Off the Deep End
by seijuuro
Summary: She has a lot to say, but he will have none of it. It's an endless circle of awkward mismatches and unlikely alliance. Mikoto relents, maybe she won't be the sane one out of the bunch after all. W/n: Canon spoilers. Completed!
1. Prologue

_._

 _She has a lot to say, but he will have none of it. It's an endless circle of awkward mismatches and unlikely alliance. Mikoto relents, maybe she won't be the sane one of the bunch after all._

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I own nothing. This is purely for entertainment and the characters used in here all belong to their respective author, Kazuma Kamachi. The cover image that's being used here also belongs to the Light Novels of the series.**

 **W/n: Contains spoilers.**

 **A/N: Well, here goes.**

 **This has been steaming for a while, I'm not even halfway done with the story and there's still lots of plot holes to cover, but uploading it usually makes me work faster.**

 **The first few chapters will be quickly updated but from then on I can't make any promises. Although I do have a lot of free time lately, and reading through the manga and light novels helps so I should be fast in progressing this.**

 **For two people who have so many connections to each other, I'm really surprised at how little Accelerator and Misaka Mikoto actually interact. But then again they make nice writing materials, and figures I am being biased too since the idea of making up interactions between unlikely characters never stops intriguing me, so I guess we'll see how this goes.**

 **Feel free to add reviews and let me know what you think!**

* * *

 **Prologue**

It starts off with a mishap.

This is what she remembers - loud crashing, buildings crumbling, the force of their esper powers burning hot in her veins and his voice nagging through her brain. Misaka Mikoto stared, her other clone, no, sister _, sister,_ laughed and teased, all hysterical and mischievous, but it made no differences. They were on their way to rage war, to actually save people, the battlefield laid wide open. She stood beside them. The clone, an older version of her, with arm in a sling and a manic glint in her golden eyes, and _him_. Hair bleached white. Blood red irises. The force of his powers merciless and unforgiving. It pricked on her skin, swept into her bones and weighed on her mind. Mikoto knew this feeling. The kind of terror that reminded her of a thousand girls laying dead and broken, merely lab rats succumbing to a failed experiment. She hoped it would reflect in her eyes, in her voice then when she told him exactly what she thought.

But the chance never came.

The Hawaii Invasion was a bigger problem than any of them had anticipated. And by the time they were done, Accelerator had already disappeared and Mikoto was more preoccupied with a certain rather unfortunate boy to even notice. When she'd realized her mistake, it was already too late

* * *

Four months later and she would still be despairing over this.

Tokiwadai is a prestigious school, but that doesn't mean all its classes are excellent. As good as a student she is, Mikoto figures she'd have her moments eventually. Such things often come when time feels endless, when the lecture gets too boring even for her nerdy standards and when she's too awake to even feel sleepy. At moments like these, she would find herself indulging in those times when she needed to reconsider her life choices, or mostly, when faced with mistakes.

She'd made plans, when Touma informed her about who would be joining. She'd panned out the whole thing. A speech. A scream. A warning. Something to make him _feel_. Know. _You can't just kill without feeling. Can't just do something like that and get away with it._ She would say her piece of mind, maybe pulling a few punches because surely the guy deserved it and she damn well needed it. It could have been perfect.

She should have known better.

"Onee-sama. Onee-sama!"

"Whoaa…What the..? Kuroko!"

Kuroko barely had time to release her dear onee-chan before a familiar surge of electricity zaps through and numbs her body. Although it did not stop her from grinning at the flustered girl sitting in the chair next to hers.

"Ne, ne Onee-sama, no need to be shy."

"I'm not shy. I'm angry," Mikoto mutters, sneaking a peek at her teacher who was still relentlessly going on about her lecture, unconcerned with the little chaos at the row of desks way back at the classroom. "What the heck was that all about anyway? Don't go around grabbing at people like that in the middle of a class."

"Uh huh, so I was saying, let's hang out today. I have something to do before so you can go pick up Uiharu and Saten at Judgement Office and then we can meet up."

"Sure."

The girl threw her a curious glance, but said nothing more as she turned back to where she had been staring mindlessly at.

Somewhere behind her, Kuroko sighs. Her beloved Onee-san has been doing that lately, spacing out anytime possible. It has been going on for quite some time, and still she has not found any way to pry something out from the chestnut haired girl. She understands perfectly well, Misaka Mikoto is independent and deals with her problems on her own. But for someone who's been on her side for so long, it stings to see this happening over and over again while she stands by. It is obvious the attention she receives from the older girl will never be enough for what she fervently gives away. But nevertheless, she will do whatever she can to be by her side, and if there is ever a time comes when the third strongest esper of Academy City finally breaks and falls, she will stay, and never give up.

* * *

In a fair, ideal world, Accelerator would have said sorry, and Misaka Mikoto could have forgiven him.

But it's not that kind of place that they live in. The world is different now, reformed, renewed, filled with endless possibilities of scientific powers and magical abilities. And even when she could fire off electricity from the tips of her fingers and there are thousands clones of her running around, at the end of the day, Mikoto would still be left feeling useless and alone.

" _I intend to repay my debt to the clones, but I have no intention of apologizing to you. You aren't conveniently forgetting that you too were one of the ones responsible for that experiment, are you?"_

It seeps and clings to her like a second layer of skin. The feeling, it speaks of more than just a hard crushing on a boy she couldn't reach, more than lives she had unknowingly created and killed, or the name she had to bear and uphold for years…The world they are living in now lays burdens and rages wars. And amidst all the fights and chaos ensuring, inside, Misaka Mikoto despairs. Because eventually, at some point, she will break. And there will be no one to stop her from falling into the madness.

* * *

She's too young.

Really, she is. Oh, Accelerator knows he's only two years ahead of her, but when it comes to mental physics, he is one-hundred percent sure he is much older. The girl that stood beside him during the breakout of the Hawaii Invasion maybe powerful, but the doe eyes and expressive manners spoke more of ignorance and stubborn determination than battle-worn experiences and darker intents. Honestly, Last Order is the perfect version of this girl, albeit younger and with more childish tendencies.

No less annoying either, apparently.

The last thing he would have expected was to see the Original again when coming to Hawaii. It really wasn't much of a difference from the other while when they met for the first time, _of course_. The look of sheer terror was still evident in the girl's stare when directed at him, yet then it had turned into a shimmer of restless fury and quiet contempt. Not that he gave a damn. Get in and get out. That was the plan. If she had had something to say, _well too bloody bad_. He'd already made his piece of mind clear, and that was that.

It should have been the last time he ever even thought about the girl, but it's not.

There's something. He does not know what to call that is and frankly he does not even want to delve on it. But maybe it's because of years of staying incoherent and acting on wild, psychotic impulses, but if he sees a crack in someone, it will eventually be – a crack. And he knows this pattern. He's seen it with his own eyes when the Second fell to his doom. And by then even with the help of ten thousand brains to help him do the calculations right, somehow he knows he will still be left confused and puzzled. He doesn't know Misaka Mikoto. Sure, he's connected to the Misaka Network, lives with two Misaka clones and has more than enough of a piece of the original Misaka, _honestly_. But he doesn't know her. The Original, Third-rate, or whatever else she is called, is something of her own league. And this, he relents, will probably be even worse.

The guilt still eats away at him more often than not. For the clones. For Last Order and Worst. Even for the Original herself. He thinks of it sometimes, tries not to do it all the time. Delving on feelings and whatever these mushy, pathetic emotions are makes him too human for his likes, but even he can't help it.

Maybe that's why, sometimes, when it's late and there's no one else around to keep him off from dwelling, Accelerator thinks to himself, if that day comes, when somehow, Misaka Mikoto finally tears herself apart, what will he do?

Four months and counting, and still not a single answer was found.

* * *

(TBC)


	2. Chapter 1

_Because eventually, at some point, she will break. And there will be no one to stop her from falling into the madness._

* * *

 **Chapter 1:**

Sometimes, Accelerator wondered if fates were out to get him, specifically only him. And by "get", he meant trivial things such as having people coming onto him whenever, the countless fights and death threats, _dumping a fucking child on him_ , getting _his brains blown off for that child and her pack of duplicated friends_ or just simply his least favorite of all, unwanted and surprised encounters.

Fate, is apparently a stingy bastard with a sick sense of humor, he decided. Because in that morning, when he woke up to find Last Order has conveniently taken off without waiting for him or notifying anyone. _Again._ Accelerator was, for the umpteenth time, done with his life.

Dragging his sorry ass out of bed was a torture itself. Walking mindlessly around the wide expanse of Academy City to look for an irresponsible, idiotic ten-year-old kid was just outright sad. Afternoon came, and his search had proven to be quite fruitless. He'd gone to shopping malls, parks, playgrounds…anywhere a mindless child can be found and yet came up with nothing.

And so, despite having an insane level of butt-kicking badassery strapped under his belt, Accelerator still ended up finding himself in the 177th branch office of Judgement, sitting patiently with his trusted crutch by his side and a much needed coffee can on the other hand while an official, a petite girl with a flower crown on her head, sought out to provide him with assistance.

The much dreaded encounter, however, finally came when a sing-song voice calling "Uihaaaaru!" accompanied by a rather loud slam of the door bursting open made him turn to look at the entrance. Accelerator almost choked on his coffee.

"We should be quiet, Saten-san. What if she's…"

Misaka Mikoto chided gently, appearing at the door from behind the long-haired girl as her gaze landed on the office desk.

She froze. Accelerator stared.

"You!"

They uttered, and the faces they both immediately made were almost identical, had Accelerator not turned away first to see to the said girl reappearing again at the desk, smiling sweetly at him then directing her gaze to the two girls standing at the door as she finally noticed them.

"Ah, Misaka-san, Saten-san," she nodded, seemingly oblivious. "Would you mind waiting please? I'm currently a little busy right now. I'll be fast."

Saten grinned, a little flustered at her loud entrance, raising her hand up for an apology but was immediately cut off when the older girl standing next to her stammered out.

"What are you doing here?" Mikoto boggled. "What is _he_ doing here? Uiharu, how come you didn't tell me about this?!"

"He's just a nice young man who came here to ask for help in looking for his lost sister, Misaka-san," Uiharu frowned, the ever oblivious one. "Is something wrong?"

Right. They didn't know. Mikoto mentally thought to herself with disdain, then as if finally realizing how much of a ruckus she has made of herself, sizzled and sputtered awkwardly.

"Aahh, no. I'll…We'll wait. Sorry."

As they made a hazy retreat to the waiting couch, Saten immediately drew herself closer to the older girl, looking back and forth at the electromaster and the guy, who was apparently choosing to face the situation by not facing it at all - his back now completely turned to them as Uiharu started setting up her help for him.

"Misaka-san, you know him?" she chided as they sat down.

Mikoto looked up from her flustered musings, sparing a glance at the guy before abruptly turning away. "Aaah, no, not really. He's an…" she grimaced. "Acquaintance. Just someone I know from one of my, uh, trips."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah…yeah! I was caught off-guard, that's all."

Saten frowned, there was more to it. She was sure. Everyone knew how this all would go. Misaka Mikoto is a stubborn and independent girl, who takes care of her own problems with grace in white lies told to her dear ones and hidden secrets buried away. If not even Kuroko could break a crack in the esper's resolve, it would not even come to her or Uiharu to have the chance.

So it was only understandable that she came to terms with it, staring at the older girl before nodding quietly, silent questions forever unvoiced and embed away.

* * *

The girl, Uiharu, was kind and understanding as she explained to him about how the search party would go, but Accelerator was unfortunately more preoccupied with the shenanigan that had just occurred. Outside, he was nodding and agreeing to whatever the stupid terms and process were, inwardly, he was pulling his hair out.

Of all the hundreds of Judgement office branches located in Academy City, and he _had_ to end up in the one that included Misaka Mikoto's friends working in. Just what kind of hellish luck does he have?

And yet, the question of the current situation rang loud and clear in his mind. He knew exactly what she wanted. A talk. A fight. Neither of which he was in the mood to give (when has he ever been in the mood though). There was, apparently, "a lot to say" to him, and he got it. He did. Yes, the girl deserved it, even though none of this would have happened in the first place had she been more observant and less naïve, _dammit_. But Accelerator has been here for too long, has died and then come back to life. Literally. It was at the point when even the basics of human principles went over his head and he finally just gave up entirely the idea of following those sets of rules. Stay away, don't touch his belongings, and we're cool. That's how it is. Sure, he's the one at a bigger fault, but she's the one to set it out in the first place. He has long since then settled with how from then on he will forever be atoning for his sins by taking care of that insane little brat and the SISTERS for the rest of his miserable life, and all Misaka Mikoto has to do is to keep her mouth shut and stay out of his way. Simple, really.

However, what was done is done. There is no going back, and by now Accelerator is ready to just get it over with. As the flower-crowned girl finally finished explaining and addressed him to get up so she could set out the search party, he mentally prepared himself for the worst. Railgun will probably be hot on his ass as soon as he leaves this chair, and if so he will stand tall (with his crutch), stifle a "Save it" before she could even open her mouth, maybe make a show of switching on his choker and unleash his raging fury at the world right now just to make a point, then leaves and never comes back. For once and for all. Even his psychotic side would be impressed, he was certain.

Such a thing never came, however, when the phone in his pants' pocket vibrated and Accelerator had to do a quick nod of apology to the petite girl before picking it up after seeing the name of the caller.

"I've found her", Yoshikawa Kikyou announced on the other side of the line, and Accelerator barely managed to stop himself from slipping out a string of colorful curses. "She was talking to one of the Sisters at the facility near my office. She's fine."

"For now. Wait until I come back. That brat is getting a piece of my mind."

He barked, not too loudly, although still clear enough for Uiharu, who was standing close, to wince and blush awkwardly, not that he was paying attention. After a few minutes of talking, with him distantly making a mental note to have a serious discussion about leashes and some heavy security door locks with the researcher later, he hung up and turned to the girl.

"My guardian's found her. Guess we're in luck today. Sorry for the inconvenience though."

"Oh no, I'm glad to hear that", Uiharu smiled up at him, shaking her head. "I guess I'll go cancel the search party then. That has taken quite a bit of time."

 _No shit_ , he mused, nodding as he reached for the crutch to stand up before stopping mid-way. The movement has somehow managed to trigger some form of alarm immediately, as the mental daggers he felt prickling at his back are definitely coming from somewhere at the waiting couch on the other side of the room. Accelerator suppressed a sigh of his own.

What he assumed would happen, however, did not come right away, even when he nodded goodbye to the other girl, headed out to the door and walked down the stairs, still half expecting a zap of electricity to hit him from behind (his choker is already turned on. It never hurt to be extra cautious anyway). The walk home lasted about two minutes before Accelerator finally allowed himself to entertain a moment of silent triumph. Maybe this was the end after all. Maybe she's changed her mind and finally realized how bad of a mistake all of this really was. Maybe he's finally succeeded in scaring her permanently (by some unknown magical way) and she's finally leaving him alone. For good now.

He's hoped too soon.

Loud thumping of footsteps accompanied by equally loud shouts of his name echoed down the street, and Accelerator indulged himself in another mental episode of cussing every god that has ever existed for dropping this kind of sick, twisted fate upon him as he stopped on his tracks. Running away now would be a tempting idea. But all and all, he was still the number one esper here in Academy City. And thus he refused to leave without his dignity intact, with Railgun closing on his heels or not.

Accelerator swiveled around just in time to come face to face with brown, wide eyes and warm, heavy breathing fanning up his face. He leaned away immediately, and was just a tad bit grateful the chick had enough level of shame in her to do the same, although with her cheeks flushing an even deeper color. He pretended not to notice the rumpled state of her short uniform skirt (he's done this more than enough, living with a woman who couldn't care less about teenagers seeing her stark naked and a ten-year-old who's just all around an insane and irresponsible kid and all); and resigned himself to facing the storm head on. He looked at her straight in the face.

"What?"

Misaka Mikoto stared up at the guy, the colors on her face quickly fading as she fixed herself to stand at her full height (which was still a few inches shorter than him). She's spent enough time contemplating how this will go when they were in the Judgement office. The delirious delight of finally having another chance at a go with the Accelerator lay warm and heavy in her chest, the words clear and ready to spill from her lips. There's still this weird heavy coil laying low in her belly, but she dismissed it easily enough as she opened her mouth, wired and ready.

"You disappeared before I could finally have a word with you last time. I'm not taking my chance again."

He deadpanned. "I have nothing to say to you."

"Tough luck. But I do."

"Doesn't matter…"

"What was that? It doesn't matter, huh? Killing ten thousand sisters…"

"That's it. No, don't even _think_ about going there."

Accelerator saw it coming, and now he's set up his mind to put an end to this, once and for all. The glower he sent her way was heated and unbinding as he stared down at the younger esper.

"Have I not made myself clear last time? If you're expecting an apology, save it. If you're trying to make a grand speech about how much I suck, save that too. What I've said hasn't changed at all, and if you're even just a tad bit smarter, you'd know to stay away from now."

As if to make a point, he leaned in again on his crutch, using his few inches of height to his advantage to get the girl to bend her head backwards as he pinned her down with his gaze, eyes blood red and gleaming.

"So this is your last chance, Third-rate. Leave."

A beat of silence passed between them. Accelerator frowned but refused to leave his ground, settling for watching her for a reaction.

At the same time, Mikoto has tensed up completely at the sudden shift of their position. The guy was close, too close; all tall and solid in her personal space. They're not even touching anywhere, and yet somehow it still felt worse than all those other times when Kuroko has made a grab at her. This kind of intrusion was more deathly than sensual, and it hit at all the sore spots that she knew he was aware of.

The mustered up words died a silent death on her lips as the girl found her face inches away from Academy's Strongest, his glare burning and his breath hot as he closed in on her. The angle was weird and a bit extreme, people are probably looking, but the thirst hidden in his glower was nothing short of dark, psychotic intents. And deep inside, where the coil lay heavy and the string pulled taut, Misaka Mikoto realized, the first crack in the walls has finally appeared.

It took a moment, but then the terror emerging in the girl's eyes came victoriously for him, although Accelerator didn't have the time to bask in the little triumph as he slowly took in the whole picture. There was something wrong with the sight. He didn't know the Railgun that well, but they've fought together in a war at some point. A mere threat from one of his old masochistic streaks surely couldn't be enough to break that little, stubborn façade she always seemed to carry. No, the look the girl was wearing then was familiar, but not in the way that left him winning and satiated.

And then it's gone.

As fast as it has appeared, the wide, dilated pupils shifted again. Accelerator stared with utmost confusion as the pair of fierce brown eyes turned back into those of calm, dark gaze – one that looked mismatched and somehow out of place on the girl's awfully youthful, baby face.

She beat him to the punch this time.

"You're right. I shouldn't concern myself with you anymore now that we've finally parted ways."

His glare was no less angry. "What the hell's your problem? One minute you're stalking up to me all high and mighty and now…"

"My mistake. It's my fault." She wasn't only referring to her sudden shift of character and they both know it. "I should have known better."

He didn't know how to respond to that. Seriously, how do people do this? He prepped himself for heated arguments and blind rage, not guilt-trips and surprised mood swings. There's also something stirring at the pits of his guts, stretched stiff and strained tight when he breathed in the foreign, faint scent of unfamiliar proximity and dark, brown gaze. He stilled himself and stared at the girl as she slowly moved away, face blank and somber.

There was no more words to be said, and when Misaka Mikoto turned on her heels and walked away, Accelerator finally heard them coming back again – the manic laughter, frantic cries and horrid screams echoing in his head. He watched her leaving, and wondered just how much endings could feel like beginnings.

* * *

It was about 8 in the evening by the time Accelerator finally returned home, hungry, tired, and with more issues to dwell on than when he left that morning. Yoshikawa sat at the dining table with a bunch of papers stacked up, and gave him a funny look when he came inside, shutting the door close.

"What's up with you?"

"What're you on about? I'm fine. Where is she?"

She pointed at the closed door with the pen in her hand and Accelerator wasted no time, pushing on his crutch to walk to the room and making a show of slamming the door open.

Last Order yelped as soon as she saw him, twirling in her blue sundress and oversized coat.

"Acceler..."

"You insane little brat." He thundered out, "I've been busting my ass trying to find you all day."

"'Really?' asks MISAKA as MISAKA smiles gratefully at you." The little girl bounced on her bed, big brown eyes crinkling. The sight somehow unnerved him, and Accelerator held back his scoff to change the subject quickly.

"Where did you go? And what the hell were you doing?", he snapped, coming into the room.

"'Ah,' MISAKA says as she thinks about what she did. There was something wrong with the MISAKA Network, and MISAKA has to go and check,' says MISAKA as MISAKA explains to Accelerator."

It took a while for the information to sink in, and when it did, Accelerator stared, suddenly feeling like bits of his brains were detaching themselves from his body.

"What?"

"'Accelerator is confused?' wonders MISAKA as MISAKA thinks of a better way to explain. Eeeeto, the network has been acting strangely these days, and some of the sisters are having difficulty to understand the sudden change. Does that make more sense to you now?' asks MISAKA as MISAKA stares curiously at Accelerator."

He frowned at the new information. "But how? How did that happen?"

"'MISAKA doesn't know either,' says MISAKA as MISAKA shakes her head. This has never happened before. MISAKA is worried too. That's why MISAKA needed to go check,' MISAKA says as MISAKA hopes Accelerator won't be mad at MISAKA anymore."

He shook his head, not missing the bright grin breaking out on the little girl's face but still deep in contemplating. "Adapting to what change, do you know?"

"'Ee,' MISAKA says as she nods. Misaka 10032 said sometimes she would feel a strong surge of emotions, but then they will be gone in a second. Not all sisters experience this, so it is a weird change of pattern to their normal behavior,' explains MISAKA as she tries to remember what she was told."

How convenient, Accelerator thought dryly to himself. An hour ago he was still high on his victorious win of finally getting a break from all the guilt-trips and stupid, unwanted confrontations. And now it's another problem to take care of. Funny on how much hope life can build up for you before smashing it apart again. He thought he should have been used to it by now. Maybe. When you were sick and unstable and people still hailed you "The One Who Wields the Power of God", it was easy to let weak, pathetic human emotions fly over your head. Sure he only had half a brain now to do the God's work now, but that didn't make him think any lower of his abilities nor would he let anyone ever make the mistake of underestimating him. But that power didn't just lie within him anymore, but also in the hands of about ten thousand girls, plus one (Original), Accelerator was still having some serious readjusting to do. And now, moreover, it seems to be that his past predictions are turning out to be true, after all.

But until then, tuning out his thoughts for the moment being, he turned to Last Order.

"Did you eat?"

The little girl looked up at him from the bed, shaking her head, tiny brows furrowing.

"Tch, figures." He moved to the door again, and held it open as he casted a glance back at her. "What are you waiting for? C'mon."

She did not need to be told twice. Flashing him an excited grin, she jumped off the bed and dashed outside, sing-songing about delicious food and having dinner with Accelerator, never taking notice of the slight smirk the addressed guy made at her little antics. The door shut close behind them.

(TBC)

* * *

 **A/N: I need to stop uploading stories at 2 or 4 in the morning. My sleeping schedule's been horribly jacked up these days ** ಠ_ಠ

 **Anyhow, science is not really my forte, so whatever I've just written above that you find impossible or unrealistic, feel free to drop a memo.**

 **I'm on a roll with this story right now, which is nice. It's planned to be finished by the time winter break ends so right now still crossing my fingers hoping I can get it done by then. There are about ~10 chapters for this, ratings may change depending on how I'll go with the plot, just a heads up!**

 **Thanks for reading and following. Reviews are always appreciated!**


	3. Chapter 2

_There was no more words to be said, and when Misaka Mikoto turns on her heels and walks away, Accelerator finally hears them coming back again - the manic laughter, frantic cries and horrid screams echoing in his head. He watches her leaving, and wonders how much endings can feel like beginnings._

* * *

 **Chapter 2:**

The nightmares came back.

It's happening more frequently now. Only a week has passed since that confrontation with Accelerator, and most of it was spent with Mikoto waking up in the middle of the night in cold fright, bangs sticking to her wet forehead and her lungs burning hot. The images were never clear, blurring and constantly moving under her eyelids, but she didn't need to see to know what they meant anymore. There was always laughter somewhere in the background, wild and screeching in her ears and metals clanking and electricity cracking and _blood, blood, blood, oh god so much blood_ everywhere. Another Sister was dying, coughing and wheezing on the ground and _she needed to help; she had to help_ but never made it in time. Inhuman black energy trailed up on her body as if imprinting a second cloak of skin while she watched in utter despair as she failed and failed. Over and over again.

If Kuroko noticed, the teleporter never said a word about it, and Mikoto would rather it stayed that way. Days passed by quickly enough, with classes needing to be attended, people requiring to be socialized with, and Mikoto sucked it up and pushed the issue to the back of her mind. The question was still there, lurking, howling, in need of an explanation she was not ready to give.

Going by the day as usual was simple enough, the pattern was easy to follow after years of constant repetition. She smiled at the right time and joked at the right place, and told herself maybe if she kept this up long enough the monsters in her head will go away.

Hope is the parent of despair, after all.

* * *

The facility was neither huge nor filled with massive glass tanks and lab tubes, which was a nice change of environment for Misaka 10032. The tasks assigned to her are never too heavy or work-loaded, thus she often completes them efficiently enough without wasting much effort. They'd still pull her out for physical check-ups often, and she too had no trouble going through those most of the time.

Until today.

It was weird – this bubbling, prickling feeling rousing inside her body, traveling from her head to her stomach and never seemed to be resting. Misaka rarely felt, and this…sensation irked and itched at her more than she could tolerate.

"Misaka-san? Misaka-san?"

She looked up from her trance, dazed eyes coming back to focus. "'I'm sorry,' MISAKA says as she feels apologetic for not having been listening. Yes?"

"Are you alright? You seemed to be deep in thought just now…"

Suon asked, staring at the girl quizzically. As the head of this branch of office, she was the first to have the chance to meet one of the "special" clone of the infamous Electromaster. The quiet teenager had first struck her as nothing more of a human robot – just doing what was told and fleeting through the day like a ghost in a human shell. The dazed, emotionless stare she always seemed to be sporting did not help either. But it has been different now. 10032 finished whatever she was assigned without any complaint as usual, but even the cool exterior would crack eventually. The childish, curious side of an infant was still fresh in her character - like her randomly sporting out questions about the tiny details in life she found hard to understand, the black kitten resting on her shoulders and seemingly unconcerned with the buzz from the electric field coating around her, and that slightly dreamy, thoughtful look she would often wear when something about a certain level 5 Esper girl was mentioned. It didn't take long for Suon to warm up to the girl, as clueless as she was about it.

On the other hand, Misaka stared at the woman as she pondered over the question. It was not in her nature to lie, but after a while of living here, "alright" seemed to have so many meanings that were hard to keep track of which one would be used for which situation. One can say "I'm alright/I'm fine" and is, but it can also be used as a way for them to stir the conversation to a different subject when they feel like their actual problems should best be kept away in the cause that it is time-consuming and consists of long, tiring talks about issues they loathe to voice out in fear of inconvenience and judgement.

The clone considered her options carefully. Inside, her mind ached and tired. It's…been a while since she has felt this way again. Last time it happened she was bleeding and coming close to death while lying face first on the ground, haughty laughter taunting at her from the distance. It's different now. She didn't have a Sister to always back her up to whatever that was to come anymore. Misaka regarded the woman silently.

"'I am alright, ma'am,' MISAKA assures. Did you want to tell me something?"

Suon frowned at the answer, but didn't push on. Pointing at the stack of papers sitting on the desk on the other side of the room, she nodded at the girl. "Yes, would you mind bringing me those pile of documents please? I need them for this data search."

"'Of course,' MISAKA says as she moves to do what she is told."

Curiously, the woman watched on as the girl approached the said desk and picked up the stock of files with relative ease. She's made about two steps before Suon realized something was off, eyes immediately widening in shock as the addressed girl suddenly stopped in her tracks and dropped to her knees.

"Misaka? MISAKA?!"

Misaka couldn't hear over what has just been said. One moment her mind was blank, next she was already being assaulted by a string of flashing images and screams and _blood, blood so much blood_. Brown, dead eyes stared back at her. Her mind was buzzing painfully and her body frozen as if trapped in ice. There's something warm and wet trailing on either side of her cheeks and her mouth was moving on its own accord. Whispering. Shouting. Wailing.

 _I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Oh God I'm so sorry._

A sob suddenly broke out from the girl's trembling lips and Suon stared in alarm, hands grabbing at her arms even though the latter hasn't even looked up from the ground – pupils wide and mouth hanging open as if in a complete state of shock. It's the first time Misaka 10032 felt her throat going so raw and with her breaths coming short and disoriented, but she couldn't stop, they're not stopping and she had, _had_ to make them stop.

"Misaka-san?! Oh God, medic! Call the medics!"

* * *

It was really not a bad idea per se to start the day off with thinking. It's more of a habit now. For Mikoto, setting her mind straight after a cozy, comfortable night in bed often gets her gears going for the day. That is, if she has not been relentlessly assaulted with vivid nightmares and horrid memories, last night being a perfect example.

And thus it was only understandable that she would eventually be nodding off during the last class of the day, albeit in a rather unladylike manner that would have sent Misaki Shokuhou chortling (hand propped up, her chin jutting out and she may or may not have drooled and wet the few pages of her sloppily scribbled notes. Thank the lord for dear Mitsuki-san and her puffy hair sitting in front of her and conveniently blocking off sensei's range of sight). But nonetheless, Mikoto has been finding herself spacing out more nowadays. Thoughts that she would only save for when alone or deep in the night to entertain have been occupying her head most of the time lately. Even the girls have noticed, Misaka-san was not as bright as she used to be, as if laughing and hanging out with them seemed to be more of a routine than actual interest now.

It hurt, and she felt guilty, even though she couldn't help it. These…musings were merely backwash of what she saw and experienced in her mind. And even though she loathed the idea of contemplating them, it was the only way for her to understand and figure out how to stop them. Kuroko doesn't need to know every night when she tucked herself under the covers her dear Onee-sama would be awake thinking about the dead eyes of a thousand clones and their spilled blood on her hands. Saten was probably better off with urban legends staying as urban legends; and Uiharu was just too good and pure to be indulging herself in these mishaps. No one can really understand her circumstances right now.

Well, maybe except one.

Mikoto hated to admit it, but Accelerator was…fitting. He was the only one besides her (and the Dark Side of Academy City) whose hands have dirtied for this. The thought did nothing to ease her worries. Sure, they knew each other. But just the idea of coming to the guy to ask for help in this was enough to send chills down her spine. The guy probably killed more than he smiled for God's sake. And even when he did, the sound was more similar to that of the Mad Hatter's guffaws than an actual laugh, and it's true, she's _heard_ it! Asking for assistance from the Esper was more or less digging your own grave.

But who knows, maybe if she explained to the guy how she's coming close to his level of insanity he would actually be intrigued enough to help.

Mikoto dismissed the idea as soon as her mind voiced it out. She maybe going crazy, but not _that_ crazy. Especially after what happened a week ago, she doubted they would be running into each other anytime soon, which was so much better off that way.

And so, when she left school that afternoon, having nothing to keep her mind from wandering off again and no one around to keep her company (Kuroko and Uiharu with Judgement work and Saten with school), the least thing she expected to see would be a familiar bob of white, pale hair.

* * *

Accelerator was restless.

He's heard what Last Order said, knew what was about to come, but to have a first-hand experience at it is just, well, disturbing. He has been roused from sleep last night to the Sisters bleeding and dying and his body frozen, hands tainted with black, crumbling pieces of surging vectors surrounding them. He would have just dismissed it as another episode from his now regular feast of no-sleep-because-he-deserved-these-nightmares-assaults, but the screams pouring out from his mouth back then did not sound one bit like his voice. No, it was something anguished, pained, and more…feminine, and familiar. One that he has no doubt heard before.

Accelerator woke up at 4:11AM that morning, and did not go back to sleep.

Instead, after making sure Last Order would be staying home, Yoshikawa would be looking after her since luckily it was one of her rare day-offs and the door is safely, tightly _locked_ , he headed out to the downtown of Academy City with only one destination in mind.

Tokiwadai Middle School was, true to what it beheld, _one fucking rich ass school_ , was what Accelerator concluded as he stood outside and looked on from afar. The campus was huge, the buildings looked frilly and extravagant, and there's more girls than anywhere he has set foot into since the lab that contained hundreds of prototypes of the SISTERS' clones (he mentally cringed at the memory). Some students passing by gave him a weird look. 'Why' he didn't know and would rather not find out, but none was whom he has been looking for.

Accelerator stood there for a good solid ten minutes before beginning to entertain the thought of blasting the school's gate open and just go fetch the miserable wench by himself.

But then that will require switching on his choker, solving math calculations and actually doing physical work, and the less than 3 hours of blissful sleep he's had last night is not supporting his case at all right now. So, begrudgingly, he settled himself for waiting, leaning to one side on his crutch while occasionally throwing a heated glare to whatever bunch of girls who resulted to giggles and joyful squeals when they noticed him at the gate ("Must be waiting for his girlfriend", "So sweet", "He's hurt and still come to see her", "What a lucky girl!"…).

Accelerator lasted about three more minutes before swiveling around and walking away.

Perfect timing, fortunately. As soon as he's left the gate and started walking down the street in utter failure (muttering another string of creative cussing while doing it either), a familiar sight of bobbing chestnut-hair caught his eyes.

Misaka Mikoto had just finished school and was heading back to her dorm, seemingly deep in thought.

Apparently, even his brighter than sun hair color had not caught her attention as the girl leisurely took her strides. Accelerator contemplated coming right onto her right now while she's still distracted and dragging herself away for their much needed talk. But then another round of giggles and delighted snickers marred his thoughts and dismissed the idea immediately. That would have just looked wrong in so many ways.

Thus he settled, again. Backing away from the school's grand gate and standing at a less noticeable corner, he waited for the other level 5 Esper to get out of the school's campus, and prepared himself for the showdown (his electric choker switched on and ready), looking much more like a stunt motorcycle rider before riding off to jump into the ring of fire and much less like simply willing himself to go have a small discussion to a girl, in an utterly, completely platonic way that is.

If confronting the said girl about her on-going stage of possible insanity is ever considered one.

* * *

It all happened so fast. One minute Mikoto was peacefully on her way home, deep in thought because a sober her would definitely never let something like this happen, and next a hand has already clamped itself on her mouth and she was being (forcefully) dragged by the elbow into a corner of the street right next to the sidewalk, all muffled screams and electric charges sizzling out in loud protest.

The attacks never hit, however. And when it's finally quieted down enough for her to realize her powers have struck air and disintegrated away by themselves without her consent, she opened her eyes.

Pale, white bangs fraying over a familiar pair of red irises welcomed her view.

"You're done?" Accelerator muttered, seemingly annoyed at having to use his power despite completely expecting it coming. He was just glad he had checked their surroundings prior this happening or else all of this would have looked extremely, horribly wrong. But it was either at the gate of one of the most prestigious school of Academy City (in front of a shit ton of gossiping chicks too for added measure) or an empty, small corner at the side of the road. He'd take his chance with the alley any day.

On the other hand, Mikoto boggled at the guy. Really, how was this even possible? Just minutes ago she was entertaining herself with the idea going to him for help and next thing she knew she was pinned to the wall in a dark alley with the said guy himself. She wanted to open her mouth, but thought better of it, least at the chance of having anymore awkward physical contact with the other Esper (she still refused to think about last week when he cornered her). His hand was gripping at her left shoulder to keep her firmly in place – plastered to the wall behind them, the other slapped tightly across her lower face. He's keeping a reasonable distance between them, not an inch of their bodies were anywhere near touching each other except his hands, which she can tolerate. But everything else was just…the things she can do with that stupid reflecting ability of his _gone_.

"Don't get your panties in a twist. I'm not doing anything you think I'm about to do. I'm gonna take off my hand now, and if you just let out one, one scream, I swear," he didn't need to elaborate for the girl to understand. So when she slowly nodded and he felt the tension in the shoulder he was keeping a hold of slacken away a little, he lifted up his hand.

"What…" Mikoto huffed out, breathing in the air she was deprived of and was slightly grateful as the other hand on her shoulder slowly slipped off. "What was that all about?"

"What? Would you rather I did this in front of the gate of your school, then? The great Ace of Tokiwadai seen walking off with a guy?"

He wasn't going to say it, but the sight of the girl paling a little at the idea is worth it either way.

"That's...That's not…" Mikoto stuttered, but refusing to play to his way. Regaining her composure, she fixed herself to stand straight again and nailed the guy with a hard stare. "Why the hell are you here anyway? What are you doing?"

Well, here goes nothing. "We need to talk", Accelerator stated matter-of-factly.

She scoffed at him. How ironic. "Last time we met you were telling me to get lost. What's happened to that, huh?"

"You."

"Excuse me?"

"…And your nightmares."

She froze up at the mention right away, and Accelerator knew he's hit the right spot.

"I've never uttered a word to anyone about those things," Mikoto mumbled, turning wide, calculating eyes on him. "How?"

"Ignorant as usual, huh," he jeered, completely unfazed at the glower aimed at him. "If you haven't realized yet, Railgun, the Sisters are _your_ clones. You and them share the same brain wave. Whatever it is you're experiencing in that head of yours, it's affecting them too."

"What would you know about it?"

"Not as much as you do, but still more than I'd like, wench."

"…I don't understand. You're saying they're also seeing my nightmares?" she shook her head and frowned at him even more. "Then how are you so concerned? What do you have to do with all of these?"

A beat of silence passed between them. Accelerator thought he's had enough, and decided to just _fuck it all_. Bringing his hands up, he gripped at the collar of his black hoodie, promptly ignoring the surprised yelp from the girl, and pulled the thin material down low enough to show his neck, collarbones jutting out under an electric plastic strap. The choker was already switched on and ready – blinking flashes of green light.

"Because _I'm_ connected to their network," he glowered. "What you dreamed last night, I saw them. I'm seeing the same thing as the Sisters too, genius."

Mikoto's eyes widened. She couldn't speak, just staring unblinkingly at the object resting on the guy's thin, pale neck. Her hand twitched as if wanting to touch to check it out, but she steeled herself, more occupied with what he had just declared. Connected. Network. The Sisters have a network, and Accelerator is connected to it somehow.

"But…how?" she whispered, shoulders sagging. Dejected. Lost.

"Long story," Accelerator said, and upon seeing that he's got his point across – pulled up his hoodie again and fixed himself straight. "But that's not the point. Whatever it is you're doing, stop. You're influencing us all, and I'm not having it."

She threw him a glare then, seemingly coming back on track from the spacing. "Well geez, it's not like I haven't been trying. You think I like waking up in the middle of the night for these horror shows?"

Silence. He regarded the girl for a few seconds, contemplating. Mikoto tried not to shift under those gleaming red eyes.

"How long?"

"What?"

"How long have you been experiencing this?"

'Since the Level 6 Shift Project' was the exact answer. Even the memory of it was enough to make the hair at the back of her neck stand up. But she's not up to discuss something like that to him of all people right now. Mikoto wasn't even sure if he was aware that the experiment he'd walked away on has turned her into their new favorite lab rat or not, so she went for the safer answer instead. "About a couple of months ago."

She's lying, or at least not telling the whole truth. Her eyes were shifty, and the posture was too stiff. Accelerator's no genius at reading body language, but he knew a lie when he looked hard enough. It just so happened that the Third-rate was not even a formidable liar herself. Figures. But he didn't get out of his bed this morning for half-assed lies and childish non-sense. Whatever it takes, he will pry the truth out of the girl. One way or another.

"You need help."

He said, and focused his stare on her when she looked up for further emphasis.

Mikoto outright laughed this time. Inside, somewhere, the coil was surging back to life, and she relented, welcoming it with open arms.

"Haah, from who? You? What do you know, huh? All we've done so far is either fighting or more fighting. And last time I wanted a talk you chased me away. How is that any help?"

"That was different. How was I supposed to know you were going haywire in your head and transferring that to our brains too?"

"You would know all about that, wouldn't you?" she sneered.

"Yes, I would. In case you haven't noticed, Third-rate. None of us has been pretty normal, have we?"

"Then it's not like I'm making a difference here. It's my head, my problems. I'll deal with it by myself."

Accelerator glared. His hands itched to just grip at the girl and shake her stupid, stubborn head out of the gutter.

He growled then, voice raspy and dangerously low. "You still don't get it, do you? I could care less about you or your episodes of guilt-trips. But this doesn't concern you and you only. Your behavior and emotional state are endangering others, and I'm not about to stand here and watch you ruin everything, not when I have a hand in this, too."

And just to make his point clear, and because he knew this will work. He stepped nearer, not enough to make physical contact, but just the perfect amount of proximity to make the girl press herself even flatter to the wall behind them. His stare was steady and dangerous when he pinned her down with it.

"Face it, Railgun. You're unstable. And you need to get yourself _fixed_."

(TBC)

* * *

 **A/N: Done some minor edits for the first two chaps and then have this uploaded. Safe to say I've been productive, huh.**

 **Welp, I can see it already. This weekend is gonna be spent with me rotting away in bed while writing and editing then updating more. I'll study for finals next week. Probably. Hopefully.**

 **Thanks for reading and following. Reviews are always appreciated!**


	4. Chapter 3

**W/n: ** Minor spoilers in this chapter.

* * *

 _Hope is the parent of despair, after all._

* * *

 **Chapter 3:**

"Oi, brat."

Accelerator called out to the little girl, who was having the time of her life playing with her bunch of stuff animals. Last Order looked up from her teddy bear and flashed him a grin.

He walked into the room and plopped himself in her tiny bed. "What do you know about Misaka Mikoto?"

"'Onee-sama?' MISAKA says as MISAKA tries to remember. Nee, MISAKA never met Onee-sama before but MISAKA 10032 said Onee-sama gets shy easily and…"

"Not that," he groaned, smacking an arm across his eyes. "I mean like what's she been up to? Can't you send like some brain signal to the other Sisters and collect info?"

"'But what is this for?' MISAKA asks as MISAKA wonders."

The little girl crawled across the bed and plopped down next to him, her knees nudging at his arm. Accelerator chose to remain silent with his eyes closed.

"…Research."

"'Really?' MISAKA nods as MISAKA thinks about it. Nee, there's not a lot to talk about Onee-sama. MISAKA doesn't know anything right now, but MISAKA can ask one of the Sisters later, MISAKA MISAKA suggests to Accelerator."

"Yeah. Yeah. Do that. And tell me as soon as possible."

"'Okay,' MISAKA says as MISAKA agrees. But for now…"

Accelerator peeked out from under his arm, and swallowed a curse back in his throat. The girl was holding a black hair tie in her hand, and the gleaming glint in the doe eyes reminded him horribly of another Misaka clone living in their household.

"'Let me braid your hair, Accelerator!' MISAKA cheers as MISAKA looks on hopefully."

* * *

The hospital was an odd place.

Well, not really odd. But there was always something that always set Mikoto on edge in it.

The corridor she's walking through was quiet and overwhelming of antiseptic smell. Academy City's hospital is the biggest medical facility of the city and takes in about hundreds of patients every day, yet Misaka Mikoto has never felt emptier trailing through the long hallway, one hand tracing on the white-washed wall as she looked on for the room number. She stilled her steps at 407. The sign on the door had a plate hung on it with a scribbled note: Misaka 10032.

The girl was still soundly asleep when Misaka gave the door a slight knock and walked in. There's a tube connected on the front side of her hand and a white blanket was draped across her frail body. The room was empty and silent minus the sound of the heartbeat detector beeping steadily.

For a while, Mikoto just stood there and stared at the sleeping girl. It has taken a while to get accustomed to even staring at them without feeling like looking at a mirror. And even then it's still hard not to feel that way sometimes. 10032 was not wearing her familiar pair of googles – the device was placed on the desk next to the bed. The brownish hair was splayed on the white pillow, thin bangs fraying on her forehead, her chest heaving up and down slowly. Mikoto remembered the last time she saw the other girl like this, albeit with more scratches and bandages.

The sight was so painfully familiar. And this time the fury twisting in her stomach was not directed at a guy.

"She's fine, you know."

The esper turned around to see another acquainted face. "Worst?"

The girl gave her a smirk as she walked inside, clicking the door closed. She directed her look back at the unconscious girl when she spoke.

"It was just a panic attack. She didn't see that coming so she was caught off-guard."

"Panic attack…" Mikoto mumbled, staring at 10032. She didn't need to turn to see the older clone's eyes on her now.

"You know why, don't you Onee-sama?"

She shook her head. "You know the reply to that already, Worst. Why even bother asking?"

The clone pretended not to notice the tight fist pressing to the side of the girl. Shaking.

"So you've seen it too? My dreams?"

She looked up, nodding.

Mikoto suddenly snapped her head to face the girl, brown eyes fierce and sharp. "And you informed Accelerator about them?"

The laugh emitted from the sister then speaks nothing of humor and mischief. "He doesn't need to be told, Onee-sama."

So it was the truth, then.

"Worst, then what…" she stopped before sucking in a breath she didn't realize she was holding, then turned to look intently at the golden-eyed girl. "What is this network that connects all of you and him together?"

Silence. Mikoto stood and waited, eyes never leaving the older one of the Sisters. The heart detector made quiet beeps between the seconds ticking by. Misaka Worst was still gazing at the sleeping girl's direction, but Mikoto didn't need to look close to know it's not 10032 she's seeing.

"You might wanna sit down for this, Onee-sama."

* * *

That night, Mikoto dreamed again.

But it's not their blood she's seeing anymore. Her surrounding was pitch black, atoms floating in thick air and electric sparks scintillating around, and it's trying to melt into her, running from her toes up and peeling her skin open until sinking into flesh and bone, never stopping on its path no matter how much she clawed and scratched at it. Her hair spiked up from static shocks, her clothes ripped and torn and her eyes were bleeding out black. Something was tearing her apart from inside out, and it's screaming for murder.

 _Kill them_ – it growled. _All the scum and dirt of the world. Destroy them._

 _Make them gone._

Mikoto woke up with a jerk.

The sheets were twisted around her and everything felt sticky and gross. There's two iron weights pressing down on her chest while her lungs were leeching out fitful gasps of air and her throat felt raw and burned. Her eyes stung.

"Uhmm, Onee-sama?"

She turned to see Kuroko shifting under her covers, voice raspy and thick of sleep. The younger girl didn't try to sit up to face her, and Mikoto was silently grateful.

"It's alright, Kuroko. I just dreamed about going to class naked", she told the teleporter. The humor was void and detached in her voice despite her attempt of the opposite.

"I'm fine." No you're not.

 _You need help._

"Onee-sama?"

"Ne Kuroko, do you remember what I've told you before? A while back."

Kuroko decided that enough is enough, and twisted her body around to rise up from the covers.

"Onee-sama, what is this all ab…"

"If I were to cause a great calamity in this city, what would you do, Kuroko?"

Kuroko has expected that this would be coming back, but it did not soothe the sting in her chest any better. But nevertheless, she stared on ahead at the older girl. Mikoto's eyes were dark and hidden behind the shadow of their room.

"If you're still asking the same question then my answer will also be the same Onee-sama. I have a responsibility to Judgement and our city and I will uphold it," she said, loud and clear in the empty silence.

"But," she added, swallowing. _Please._ "Please know…I will also always support you no matter what. And…and if ever, ever you nee…I'll always be by your side, Onee-sama. That will never change."

For a while, the older girl just stayed quiet. Kuroko was almost scared to breathe. Suddenly it felt like the distance between them was beyond just a bed to a bed.

But then, Mikoto moved - sliding out of the covers and padding across the room to reach Kuroko's bedside. Carefully, she leaned down and placed her hand on the surprised girl's head, ruffling the pinkish hair. Soothing. Comforting.

"Of course I know. Thank you, Kuroko."

The urge to cry and bury into the older girl's arms was overwhelming, but Kuroko steadied herself. There's an unspoken 'but' hanging in the air between them, and she knew she's right when the warm, comforting hand slowly slipped away from her head and Mikoto fixed herself straight again.

"I…I have to go out for a moment. Do you mind covering for me today?"

She smiled then, more to herself than the older girl.

"Not at all, Onee-sama."

 _Not ever._

There's no more response then. And Kuroko settled with watching the other Esper get dressed to leave. The clock ticked five in the morning. It's getting a little bit chilly as fall was coming. The air was crispy and clean in their room, yet Kuroko has never felt heavier.

Mikoto slipped on her beanie and put on a hoodie jacket with zipper. Her mind was buzzing and her hands were sweating but she pushed on. She reached for the door handle before stopping midway, turning back a bit to the younger girl.

"I'll be back, Kuroko. I promise."

The girl only nodded. Mikoto tried not to notice the fists curling tightly at the covers and stepped out to the empty hallway, closing the door from behind. Inside her, the monster rumbled.

 _You know you want this._

 _You know you want to kill them too._

Her mouth tasted like death.

* * *

He's finally seen it.

Accelerator did not go to bed that night. Instead, after making sure Last Order was soundly asleep, Yoshikawa was resting in her room and Worst has come back from wherever the hell she had been, he returned to his ward and laid awake in his bed.

It came after a long while of waiting – raw, powerful and paralyzing. It seeped into everything around him and clung to his skin. It felt both familiar and alien at the same time, then Accelerator realized. So this is her monster.

He can almost feel them. The searing pain of the scratches and claw marks she's scarring at her own skin in frantic attempts to reject the powers it's offering. The desperation was thick in both his and her throat. There's no barrier between his and the Railgun's mind in these drifts of clashing consciousness. He's her here. And their cries are unheard in the darkness. Their skin leaked blood and their eyes bled black.

He woke up to the sound of a knock on the door.

Accelerator left his room and padded across the apartment, and wished that he could be surprised upon seeing Misaka Mikoto standing in front of him as he unlocked and clicked the door open.

She stared at him straight in the eyes this time.

"I need your help."

(TBC)

* * *

 **A/N: Did I just spend the whole day writing this instead of studying? Yes. Do I regret it? Err, no.**

 **Short chapter I know I know I'm sorry! I'll try to make up for it in the next one. When is it coming? Hmm, next weekend hopefully because I'll be done with school stuff by then. Urgh, I hate college. Did I say I hate college?**

 **Anyhow, thanks for all the lovely favorites and following and reviews. You guys sure know how to feed my pitiful, dying soul. Keep 'em coming!**


	5. Chapter 4

_And their cries were unheard in the darkness. Their skin leaked blood and their eyes bled black._

* * *

 **Chapter 4:**

If she were any smarter and less high on relentlessness, Mikoto would have been turning tail and running back to Tokiwadai dorm by now.

The ally they've just passed stank of sewer and trash. Accelerator is walking in front of her – his grey hoodie hung over his head and his pace brisk. The esper has not uttered a word since they left his place. When he opened the door and found her behind it - ruffled clothes and tousled hair as she asked for his help, he had simply nodded, before grabbing a hoodie at the hanger, pulling it over his head (she could still remember it – the sudden awkwardness that rendered her stiff and frozen standing in front of his house while watching the guy change in front of her, least the strongest esper of Academy City either for added effect) and signaling for her to follow him. Inwardly, Mikoto thinks she's going crazy. Outside, she is trailing after him like a lost puppy.

They've probably been walking for only five minutes, and yet her curiosity was already out of the roof. Dimly, she entertained the idea of walking up to him and asking, but then that would require breaking the silence between them and making chit-chats with _the_ Accelerator at 5:30 in the morning. And Mikoto maybe hearing voices in her head and possibly going out of her mind, but she was no idiot.

He must have seen the horror show she'd experienced in her dream. There was no other way Mikoto could think of to explain why he's helping her now.

 _Unless_ , she mused with dark amusement, the sight must have excited him. All gore and blood with her freaking out and getting scared shitless. Maybe he's taking her to somewhere dark and empty to tear her head open and dig into the madness - drown himself in the frenzy that he always seemed to be so infused with. Maybe this was how she would go. The same way her sisters had.

"Now that's a low blow, Railgun."

Mikoto froze on her tracks. The guy has managed to stop and turn around without her even noticing. He was facing her now – standing just a few feet away in all his cocky, merciless glory, wearing nothing but a grey hoodie and a pair of black sweatpants that he didn't even bother changing out when they left. The crutch was stiff and steady in one hand, although it did nothing to render the red gleam in his eyes as he stared her down.

"If you're gonna come and ask for my help, the 'least you could do is be nice about it."

She blinked at the guy, mouth frozen.

"In case you forgot, _this,_ " he said, tapping at the side of his head in a way that seemed casual but still looked more of manic, "is still wired to your brain. And since we're conveniently near each other right now, our brains are running in the same pattern. So whatever it is screening in that head of yours, I can see it perfectly clear too."

"I…It's not like I can help it," she finally stuttered out, bashfully avoiding his eyes. "Especially after what you've don…Where are we going anyway?"

He made to do a quick glance back at the road ahead of them. "I know an abandoned warehouse nearby. We can settle this there."

Settle. This. Abandoned warehouse. _Riiight._

"So…you saw it then? What I dreamed about?"

"Obviously. Nasty stuff too. Didn't know you had it in you, Third-rate."

"What? What's that supposed to mean?"

He turned back to look at her again, eyes curious. "You know that they talk, don't cha? The sanest of the Level 5's and all that bullshit. No killing, no fighting or sudden outbursts of insanity. You're like a fucking halo among us."

 _Not anymore_ , she thought dryly, but chose not to address it.

"Why are we going there?"

Accelerator clicked his tongue, the wench really was a mood-killer. Swiveling back and not even bothering to spare her a second glance, he started walking away again.

"What else," he muttered. "We're going to fight."

* * *

Maybe later when he looked back at this, Accelerator would probably deem himself an idiot for even making a suggestion at it. He'd rather eat nails before ever admitting it out loud. But as of now, the girl was desperate for help, and he's always been desperate for atonement. Especially when it concerned chestnut hair and chocolate brown eyes.

The place they stop at was empty and spacious. The vast expanse of the land stretched wide and broad from the abandoned warehouse to all the way to the side of the river that cut through the center of Academy City. It was almost 6 in the early morning. There was a few cars passing by on the bridge above the river, but other than that they were completely alone.

"Uuhh, okay."

Mikoto murmured, eyes darting around the sight. Accelerator distinctly wondered if she was reminded of somewhere familiar; wondered if she felt a sting in her chest like he was feeling too.

If she did, the girl made no implication of such. Instead she turned to him with questioning eyes.

"A fight," she said carefully, as if tasting the word on her tongue. "You want us to fight? Here? Now?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

It was his time to give her a look then.

"Still haven't got it through your thick skull yet? I'm giving you what you want, aren't I? You said it yourself. We have a score to settle, so let's do it right now."

For a while she just stared at him, as if not even believing her own ears.

His patience was wearing thin, thus Accelerator only scowled. "What? Did I get that wrong? Or did you only plan to throw a bitch fit at me all along?"

"I don't get it," she shook her head, promptly ignoring the jab. "How is this going to help me and my…problem?"

It was only supposed to be a simple question, but it felt as if she'd accidentally turned on a mental switch in his head. Accelerator maybe facing her right now, but she doubted he's actually looking at her, if the sudden far-away look the guy has taken on seemed to be any indication.

"You're not the only one with demons inside their head, girl," he finally said, eyes narrowing back to her. "I'm speaking from experience here, the only way to get it off your chest is to let it out."

She just looked at him, completely baffled.

"And if those goody two shoes chicks that I saw at Judgement the other day are your closest friends, then I doubt they can handle your tantrums. Isn't that why you're here asking for my help too, huh? Because you care for their safety and want to fix this on your own?"

He's pushed the right button again, he knew. The red marks she's digging into the palms of her hands have started to bloom already.

Thus the fish has caught the hook, and Accelerator wasted no time on pulling the string.

"So I'm giving you an offer, Railgun. Let it out, and I'll handle it."

 _Consider it my way of apology._

* * *

There are things Misaka Mikoto never talked about to anyone.

Not Kuroko, Uiharu or Saten, and certainly not to that unfortunate boy whose hands always seem to be tied to the rest of the world, in spite of the hours and days she'd spend chasing after him. They could be there for her. They could console and help ease the weight in her chest, but they would not _get_ it. Not in a way that someone else would.

The world used to be just black and white, for her. There's the good and there's the bad; there's the science and there's the magic (although she still finds it hard to understand this side of the nature); and there's the protagonist and there's the antagonist.

That line was blurred now – smudged, smeared away as if someone thought it would be a funny joke to wipe it off and painted it into a messy, greasy mix of both.

Even she was caught in the illusion for a while – helping out in Judgement, beating the 'bad' guys, thinking it was right. She was doing something right for the world. She was good.

But it wasn't like that anymore. The day she gave them her DNA map like food on a silver platter was the day she single-handedly wiped out the very ideals she'd spent her whole life living up to. And the horrible irony of it didn't even hit her until a Sister had to fall dead and broken in front of her very eyes.

Ranks, categories, or anything of the such, are a sick form of discrimination, Mikoto decided. The little attempt didn't do much to soothe her bruised ego as she came back from that hellhole later that day – exhausted and sore to the bones. Even the electric zaps she sprouted out to hit Kuroko when the latter tried to help her with one of her many very physical 'therapy methods' did not have the same spark as they used to anymore. She barely managed to stop herself from puffing out a curse as she collapsed on her bed that night.

" _Come back later. We're gonna keep going at this until you figure out how to stop it."_

Easier said than done. If Accelerator didn't berate her for doing this and that to strike at him, she would have thought all of this was just a sick joke. They'd spent that entire morning fighting, well, mostly her. The other guy just stood there and deflected anything she threw at him. Even the bloody vending machine she flung at the guy didn't make him blink an eye as he smoothly blocked it using his notorious vector control. By the time she'd managed a tear on one sleeve of his hoodie, she'd already been panting and barely standing straight on her feet.

He'd called it quits then.

"The day after tomorrow. Here. At midnight. And _don't_ be late. It's bad enough I'm cutting off my sleeping time for this crap."

He'd said before turning away, leaving her with a tattered mess of a battle behind them – not even waiting for a reply. He didn't need to anymore. They both knew already, after that morning, she would always be coming back. Until the monsters shut close. Until they settle their last score with each other.

And so, besides the countless strings of horrid nightmares and a pathetically unstable state of mind, Mikoto now has one more thing to add to the list of stuff she would bring to the grave before uttering a word about it to other people. They don't need to know she's slowly dying on the inside. They don't need to know she's breaking apart with only one person to witness it. And they certainly don't need to know that, deep down, both she and the guy need this. Misaka Mikoto sought for remedy, and Accelerator for redemption. If they could get that from each other, then so be it.

The world was grey now, in her eyes.

* * *

The night was clear and cool for a relaxing weekend up ahead. No one was around. The wind blew by from time to time – prickling on her skin and making the trailing droplets of sweat even cooler against her face. Her clothes were a frightful mess and electric statics were buzzing in the air, although Mikoto was more preoccupied with what was in front of her to even notice them.

"That," she hissed, sagging against a nearby street lamp. Even her _teeth_ ached. "That really hurt."

"Stop being such a girl. I barely even touched you."

About three feet from her stood the number one esper of Academy City. Crude and ruthless and all. Although now the guy seemed to be more annoyed than murderous. In fact, ever since they started this…this _thing_ , that's all he has ever managed to be. Irritated. Like a student with a homework he loathed to do but still went through with it. Mikoto honest to God did not know how to deal with that. Or the stinging pain numbing her legs. Or her stomach. Or her arms.

" _You_ try getting kicked in the guts!" She managed to spasm out, and immediately came to regret it as a dark shadow started to crease on his face.

"Again."

Accelerator barked. How he managed to sound even snappier was beyond her.

But she did, foolishly, sign herself up for this. So gritting still sore teeth, Mikoto charged forward again, electricity sparks fizzling bright and vigorous all around. She'd tried side-attacks. She'd gone for sneaking up from behind. She'd even flung goddamn metal rails at him. And none had turned out to be working. Accelerator stayed true to his name as the top Esper. And the fact is a painful, bitter reminder of how far apart they were in terms of powers and abilities. The scathing spite towards herself has come back biting and gnawing so often now. She'd spend every waking, breathing moment mulling in it. And it was reflecting on the outside. The straight up hit she wanted to deliver never made it as Accelerator pulled her forward by the arm and got her on the knees just from a block. His vectors wiped out her electric charges completely.

"You're not getting any better."

Accelerator muttered as he watched the girl – now kneeling and heaving before his feet. He didn't feel pity often, but it was the only thing he could think of then to name the surprising surge of emotion swelling low in his chest (he refused to call it as anything else).

"Observant," gasped out Mikoto, damp strands of hair falling out from the pretty white hair clip, refraining from looking up when she felt the guy stepping backwards away from her.

She did, however, when she heard a scrapping sound and then his familiar mop of hair came into view. The guy has kneeled in front of her, albeit far enough so they would not be breathing anywhere close into each other's face.

"It's eating you alive," Accelerator said, staring straight at her.

It was not a question. So she compelled to stay silent.

"You're not even trying. Why aren't you fighting it?"

"Oh I don't know...Maybe because it should?!"

She flinched as soon as they left her mouth. The words had carelessly spilled out before she could tighten her lips close. And she stared, in great horror, as the guy's pale brows, which were drawing close in confusion, now rose up under the long white bangs at her admittance.

The silence stretched before them was heavy and overbearing. And after a while, Mikoto sighed, resigning herself to fate.

"It's my fault from the start. I…I did this to them and they're still calling me their sister, still offering me help. They don't see it. I'm turning into this sick, disgusting excuse of a human being and affecting everyone around me and they're still trying…"

 _They can't see that I'm turning into a monster. They can't, never, know that I_ want _to become one._

 _If it means erasing every speck of filth and scum from the world._

"We're done for today."

"…Huh?"

She abruptly looked up to see him standing up again, dusting at the front of his pants. The trademark red eyes were shadowed with a sudden shade of maroon then.

"Go home and get some rest. We'll continue this another time."

He didn't wait for a reply, as usual. And yet, as she looked on from where she was propped up on the ground, the lazy, bored demeanor was gone, replaced by a quiet shimmer of quakes in his hazy steps. Mikoto watched his knuckles turn white on the cane's handle, and wondered if she's just teared the string apart on her own.

* * *

Sometimes, when Accelerator let himself sit back and think about it, he would often relent that his life took a turn for the worse the day he found out he could control the direction of the wind and used it to smack people in the face whenever he was annoyed, literally.

After that picture perfect start (and boy did he enjoy it), within the first few months of scrambling around and in the midst of discovering this new ability, Accelerator made the biggest mistake of his life as he promptly allowed those weird, creepy bastards in white robes to take him in and build up labs after labs to study him like some kind of newfound species in nature.

In a sense, he guessed they were right.

For the rest of the time after that, he had to settle for beating around the bushes, staining clothes and mind with blood and getting money from places as clean on the outside as they were dirty on the inside. Spending his life high on powers yet low on mentality. The One to Wield the Power of God – bared and cut open for research and tryout. If anyone noticed the irony, they never said a word about it. At least not to him.

It still _ached_ , actually, a dull throb in the hollow's vacancies, but that's when he's began not caring anymore. The exact moment he gave up. He could do whatever he damn well pleased, and the world could go fuck itself and rot, because this was what he was taught, what he'd learned from them in exchange to what they'd learned from him.

That, too, however, went to waste when Kamijou Touma punched him in the face. For the first time ever.

It was a real wake-up call for sure. A _fucking painful_ one, but a wake-up call nevertheless. Not that he'd ever tell the miserable bastard that. After years of blind rage and fighting for scraps, Accelerator finally had the chance to actually take a good look at himself. It's not there yet. He's still trying (sometimes failing), but he's changed. That cold-blooded murderer is still haunting, whispering at the back of his mind and guiding his steps every time he put on a façade for dirty, corrupted tasks no one was capable of doing beside him. But he was finally different now – from having nothing to something, _someone_ , to live for and to die by. Sure he could still do whatever the hell he wanted and the rest of the world could go kiss his unapologetic ass, but there's standards and boundaries now. And if Accelerator was feeling especially narcissistic, he actually might even consider himself doing something good.

He should have realized Misaka Mikoto was the exact opposite.

Accelerator may have settled to live with a monster inside himself. But Misaka Mikoto was looking for more than that. She's ready to lay herself bare and open for it to take over any time now to do good again. The guilts and failings have swallowed her whole.

It was kind of ironic, really. There he was, discarded and isolated for his whole life – suddenly has a reason to live, people to take care of like an actual human being at last (it's a work in process). And Mikoto has spent hers in loving, caring arms yet now is left alone in her own despair and sorrows. He'd kill so as not to kill. And she'd kill so as others wouldn't have to. He'd wasted his life chasing after human contact for his sake and she'd given up hers refusing it for theirs.

It couldn't be any sadder, honestly. She's trying to fix her wrongdoings to the point of driving herself to madness.

 _You're killing yourself, you careless brat._

* * *

Accelerator didn't know what to expect when he returned home later that day. Although his fervent hope that Last Order would still be staying in her room like an obedient child she _should_ be was replied, the look the little girl was wearing did nothing to ease his already relentless temper.

"Why the hell are you still up at this time?! What's up with you?"

He asked out loud, then immediately lowered his voice as he did a quick scan of the apartment. It was only 3AM, and it would do him no good if Yoshikawa, or heaven help him, Worst were deprived of their 'beauty' sleep.

Last Order shook her head fervently, brown locks tumbling on the fluffy pillow as she burrowed herself under the covers. It had to be a mental thing. There was no possible way that the Original baring her heart out and then the mini version of her was now having a crying fit was a coincidence. Accelerator suppressed a sigh and resigned himself to fate as he walked inside and gently sat down on her bed.

"What's wrong?"

"'I…It's about Onee-sama', MISAKA says as MISAKA quietly tells Accelerator."

The ten-year-old mumbled under her blanket and Accelerator was immediately alarmed. It couldn't have gotten to the brat, could it?

"What? Did you have a nightmare?" he asked quickly, scanning the little girl's face for any sign of mental distress.

"'Uh uh', MISAKA disagrees."

He nodded, relieved, then watched with utter confusion as the girl lingeringly put a hand on his – warm and soft on his chilling skin.

"'The level 6 Project wasn't discarded after you left. They just changed their target to Onee-sama', MISAKA says."

(TBC)

* * *

 **A/N: I can't be the only one who wants to see Accelerator sporting some sweet sweatpants. No? Anyone with me?**

 **Quick update though, I'm done guys! Final is finally over thank God. Passed all the classes needed, not sure how that happened but no complaints here.**

 **So finally the break has started and you know what that means, more of this half-dead horse to come.**

 **A quick thanks to Choudenjihou for beta'd reading this too.** **And of course thank you for all the reading, favorites and followings. Review if you like~**


	6. Chapter 5

**W/n: ** Mild cursing. Because Accelerator's a rebel like that ;)

* * *

 _Misaka Mikoto sought for remedy, and Accelerator for redemption. If they could get that from each other, then so be it._

* * *

 **Chapter 5:**

It was during a GROUP mission, that Accelerator found out about Etzali's crush on Misaka Mikoto.

The mind-boggling fact sprung out of nowhere, literally. There he was, peacefully walking next to Tsumichikadou as they headed out to their destined location, minding his own business – which was tuning out whatever the hell they were chit-chatting about. Musujime Awaki sounded like she was complaining, and Tsumichikadou was apparently teasing her, although he couldn't be sure (he's zoned out after "…going out at this time. Can't a girl have her sleep in peace?"). And Etzali who – for all his nauseatingly cheerful and charming acts, kind of did have his shit sorted out most of the time, even Accelerator was impressed, just a bit. So as usual, when the other two bickered and socked it around and Accelerator was so done with everything to even butt in, Etzali, all dark haired and handsome faced, just smiled and laughed earnestly to catch their attention.

"C'mon guys, let's just get this done. I heard there's a really good movie coming up, and I kinda want to get to Tokiwadai tomorrow to ask someone to come watch it with me."

It had worked, as usual, thank the God. Accelerator felt like his ears were about to give up and just start bleeding out from the stupid quarrels. But nevertheless, Tsumichikadou was never one to leave himself out of the juicy bits of gossip. Slowing down to meet Etzali's pace, he chirped and smirked devilishly at the latter.

"Oh? A girl, I suppose?"

Even Musujime was interested now. Accelerator didn't blame her. He'd started paying a little more attention at the mention of the high-ranked school already, not that the other three noticed. The fools.

"Going on a date, Etzali? Who's the lucky chick?" she grinned.

"Like I said, just a girl from Tokiwadai." The guy never faltered in his strides, despite the two taunting pair of eyes directing at him.

"Aww but which one? You gotta be specific man."

"Yeah. It's not like we'd actually care enough to see wh…Wait," the redhead suddenly stopped, before her eyes lit up as if a light bulb just switched on above her head. "I know you have a knack for pretty faces, judging from your appearance and all. It doesn't happen to be that Misaki Shokuhou girl, does it? She's a Level 5 too if I remember correctly, a few ranks lower than you Accelerator of course."

"Naturally," the latter deadpanned. The name did ring a bell, but he could care less. With all that's been going on, one Level 5 from that cursed school was enough to last him a _lifetime_ already.

Etzali blinked at her, as if also trying to remember the name, before shaking his head.

"Close. But no."

Then he dropped a bombshell. So casual and buoyant, Accelerator didn't even notice it until the familiar ring of the name actually sank in in his head and when it finally did, he almost tripped over himself.

"Wait, wait…Hold the fuck up. _What_ did you say?" he burst out. Just to make sure.

Maybe all that tuning people out was finally turning his hearing sense rusty. Or that lack of coffee lately was getting to his head. His brain had been getting a bit mushy these days too. It had, _had_ to be something wrong, because there was no possible way, from the mandate of some sadistic god on some plane high above, did he just hear –

"Misaka as in… _the_ Misaka Mikoto?" Tsumichikadou whistled, the kind that was slow and dragged out for further impression. "Dude, that's no 'just a girl'"

"Wow, her? You have a crush on the _Railgun_?" Musujime boggled, then giggled, then laughed. Loudly. "Holy hell, it's true. This is way better than I even expected. But how did _that_ happen though?...Wait, that's why you came to Tokiwadai and stole that face, isn't it? All to approach that girl?! Oh my God."

"Well, not exactly, I had a mission to do at the school, at first. But then I met Misaka-san, and…yeah. That's actually how I got here in the first place too. Because I wanted to keep an eye out for her."

It actually got worse. Accelerator could not let this slide any longer.

He finally uttered out, then. "So you're telling me, that all you've been doing so far…sticking around here with us psycho paths (he promptly ignored the loud protests bubbling out from the other two) – all of this, for the _Railgun_?!"

Etzali paused mid-strides, as if contemplating, before looking up to meet his wide-opened red eyes. Steady and confident all at once.

"Yeah. That's pretty much it."

It was official. That miserable brat was not the only one with the mumbo jumbos after all.

"…Wow," was all Musujime could manage, before another fits of snickers took her over again.

"A can of worms, indeed," the blond boy somberly agreed, before slinging an arm across Etzali's shoulders, grinning. "But hey, whatever floats your boat man. You never know if you don't try it out, huh?"

"Ah yes, you got to make efforts, of course."

"You'd better tell me how it'll go down when you ask that girl out tomorrow," Musujime finally said, all teasing and mischievous.

The dark haired guy only smiled easily, then upon seeing that he's got his point across, just chided them to hurry up and continue on with their assigned task.

None of the guys noticed Accelerator twitching a bit on his spot before coming up to join them again.

* * *

It should be a federal crime or something – on how much stuff one would need to handle in a sphere of a day. Or more precisely, on how much stuff Accelerator found himself processing and taking in lately.

Last night did not feel like just a night. But more like he came out of there and woke up this morning at least five years older. Even his hair felt like it was turning grayer, if that was even possible.

First it was the bad dreams, then helping out the wench with those bad dreams, then learning about the twisted fate of what he single-handedly sprung on that wench, and now finding out about one of his members' unearthly obsession for her (he's still not sure what to make out of that last part). And basically just that wench, to nicely sum it up.

The world, was definitely very tiny, and also very sick in the head, Accelerator concluded.

After listening carefully to Last Order's sob story and making sure the little girl was blissfully back to sleep again, he was almost immediately called in by Tsumichikadou to be informed about the new lead of their latest assassination target. The blondie, the sadistic asshole that he was, had sounded all too cheery and beaming as he required the presence of all of them half an hour later before hanging up.

And thus, Accelerator had to settle his miserable ass with filing the new info for later analysis, getting out of the house at 4 in the morning then meeting up with his GROUP mates, resigning himself to another insomniac episode – only to have another scandalous piece of news flung at him in the face with the brute force of a bull charging straight for the red flag that left him frozen and tripping on his own feet.

It was the Railgun's fault. Really. All of this. She just _had_ to go and be the goody two shoes that she was and scattered her DNA around like some kind of blessed charity work and making the mess out of everything and _then_ turning herself into another mess to try to fix it right again. And Accelerator was that poor, ignorant blockhead caught in the middle of it all. The Academy's Strongest was pretty certain he can probably compete with that Kamijou something-or-other for the shittiest luck to ever be bestowed now.

Accelerator stood in front of the bathroom sink, and repeatedly splashed cold water on to his face.

It eventually occurred to him, as he was glaring himself down in the bathroom mirror later that day, that this little problem of theirs could not be held down any longer, nor would it magically grow legs and disappear on its own, despite his fervent hope for the contrary. If what Last Order told him about the Level 6 Shift Project was true (and it had to be – not a lot of stuff could turn that brat into a frantic, slobbering mess, no matter how young and tiny she is), then Misaka Mikoto was not the only one who needed reparation after all. And this time, Accelerator would have to be the one to set it out, for the both of them.

He was so very, very tired.

* * *

Tokiwadai Middle School was seriously beginning to grate on his nerves. It was big, polished, fancy, and everything that Accelerator was not. The prestigious Academy was also conveniently filled with a bunch of teenage girls that made him want to do nothing more than switching on his choker and giving each and every one of them a piece of his mind for making up stupid assumptions.

Even when he has wisely chosen to stand a few feet away from the school's ridiculously gigantic gate and patiently waited like a polite, decent human being this time, Accelerator could still hear the disturbing giggles and questions springing around from miles away – Yes, he is waiting for someone. No, she is not his girlfriend. No, he does not have a girlfriend nor is he interested in getting one. Ever. And for the last time, that _is_ his natural hair color, not fucking bleach.

Accelerator steeled himself. He's made sure to come when the school bell would be ringing, which it just did. Ten minutes. He would wait out for ten minutes. If it got pass that amount of time and still no signs of Misaka Mikoto, somebody was going to pay.

"Holy shit, Accelerator?!"

Accelerator froze on his spot before turning around, and nearly cracked the handle of his crutch with one hand.

It's Kamijou. Kamijou fucking Touma. The only one to have beaten the crap out of him so far. That son of a bitch.

"What are you doing here?" blurted out the guy, completely flabbergasted. "In front of Tokiwadai too?! This'd better not be about Misaka Mikoto again!"

In his mind, Accelerator broke legs. On the outside, he fixed himself straight, leaned on the balls of his feet, and threw the dumbfounded guy his nastiest glare.

"Aaah fuck, it's about Misaka again, isn't it? I'm not letting you get to her…"

"I'm not here to hurt that wretched brat, you loud-mouthed gasbag. Or anyone for that matter. What the fuck are _you_ doing here?"

"This is how I usually go home," Kamijou said simply, before narrowing his eyes back at him. "What's _your_ excuse?"

How the hell did he even manage to sound stupid and righteous at the same time? _Fucking asshat._

"…I'm waiting for someone."

"Who?"

"None of your business."

"It will be if it's Misaka you're waiting on."

"Who are you? Her fucking escort?"

"A friend. And I don't let people hurt my friends."

"Tough shit. But like I said, I'm not here to hurt anyone," _yet._ "So scram. Leave me alone."

It really did feel like talking to a wall, because the ignorant, _annoying, moronic_ bastard just did not know when to stop. "You know what? No. I'll wait with you then. Until I can make sure it's really not Misaka we're talking about here."

Accelerator thought murder, promptly swiveled back to face the guy, and prepared to jab his crutch into places soft and squishy enough to _hurt_.

" _What_ ," he finally gritted out, "in the fucking hell is your problem? Don't you have something else to do besides sticking your nose into everyone's business? Like being a damn hero and saving the world or some shit?"

"Not really," the guy commented dryly. "It's safe for today."

"Tch. Would 'da been even safer without you and your troublesome ass."

"Oh look who's talking here? Like you're any better."

"'least I'm not dense. Or a motor-mouth."

"I doubt the 'dense' part. It's not like you needed to have some sense knocked into you or anything like before, huh."

Accelerator thought fuck it, and shot forward to jam his finger to the other guy's shirt clad chest.

"That's _it,_ " he snarled. "Listen you dumbass. One of these days I'm gonna have my shit sorted out with you. But that's not now. Unlike _some_ people, I have stuff to deal with. So if you're just gonna stand there doing nothing and annoying the living crap out of me, then leave. Let's just go our separate ways and pretend this never even happened. Fuck like I haven't had a bad day as it is already."

For a moment, Kamijou just stared, then calmly removed Accelerator's hand off his shirt, and opened his mouth – looking ready to engage into another round of verbal abuse, when they were both suddenly cut off by another familiar voice.

"Uhmm, am I interrupting something here?"

* * *

Somehow, it always seemed to be too early, or too late, for Misaka Mikoto.

First it was the Sisters, then Kamijou Touma, even Kuroko – always managed to be so. Late to save. Late to help. Late to come back. And her worst problem, late to open up about herself. She didn't regret the last one, not as much as the others.

But somehow, in some unearthly God with a twisted sense of humor on the plane high above, stuff like this always managed to come early, when she least expected it. It was bad enough Kuroko has left her to fend for herself for Judgement work and asking her to come by the office later so they could hang out, she had to settle with leaving the classroom alone and walking through the campus surrounded by giggles and snickers from all the girls around. Mikoto didn't even think twice about it – when you were rich and in _that_ kind of phase, gossips and boys are the only important stuff in your life – until the crowd cleared up and Mikoto was met with one of her most terrifying nightmare coming back to life.

Accelerator was standing in front of her school's gate. Along with Kamijou Touma. Seemingly looking like they were in the midst of trying to bite each other's heads off.

The first instinct was to turn around and run away. Maybe change school and move to the other end of the city while she was at it. But the guys were seriously getting in the heat of the moment – with Accelerator jamming his finger on Touma's chest – _not a good sign_. Then with Touma brushing the guy's hand off and preparing to raise a fist – which was conveniently his mean right hook. _Definitely not a good sign._

And damn her. _Damn it all._ Being good could be such a misery. Because once she coughed loudly enough to catch the guys' attention then felt a million pair of eyes have turned to her and the air has suddenly become so quiet she could hear her rapidly beating heart, Misaka Mikoto wanted nothing more than the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

"Uhmm…Hey, what'sss…going on here?" she heard her voice saying.

The silence was deafening and painful. Mikoto resisted the urge to stomp on the ground to call it awake.

Touma, bless his heroic soul, finally fixed himself straight and smiled softly at her. "Oh nothing, we were just waiting for you. Are you done with school?"

"Uh, yeah…I'm done."

"Great. Let's hang out then."

Hang out? Where? With who? Both of them? Where was that psycho killer Accelerator when you need him? Why was his saner version just standing there and saying nothing?! What on earth was going on?!

Mikoto angrily dismissed the rounds of gasps and giggles sweeping from behind them, and stared at the two guys like they just announced their new wedding engagement.

"What?" she deadpanned.

"C'mon, let's go."

Touma was definitely in his own little world again. The guy didn't even wait for a reply as he turned and started walking down the street. Mikoto glanced helplessly to Accelerator, who – to her horrified surprise – just gave her an annoyed look before spinning around and following Touma's direction. Mikoto had no choice but to catch up with them, stories and titles slithering up from behind.

The day seemed to last forever, sometimes.

* * *

"Okay. What's going on?"

Touma asked as soon as they were out of view and earshot – which was ironically the ally Accelerator had pushed her into before. Mikoto tried hard not to dwell on that detail again and plastered herself a little closer to the wall behind them to avoid any passerby peeking in. She gave a quick glance at the other Level 5, but the latter only had his eyes on the boy in front of them.

"What part of 'None of your business' don't ya understand, huh?" he said casually.

"The part where I know for one thing that you two are supposed to hate each other."

That could still be applied, as far as Mikoto was concerned. But, "It's a little more complicated than that now, Touma."

"Then explain. If you don't mind."

"Yeah. Yeah I do mind, a lot," Accelerator cut right in. "Why do any of us has to explain to you what we do?"

"Because, _you_ used to go on a manic killing rampage until I had to sock you in the face", he nodded to the guy – a quirk in his grin that made the paler boy bristle, before turning to her. "And you, are emotional and don't let things go easily. I honestly can't understand how you're both just standing here and not screaming at each other's faces already."

"Like how you two did just now?" Mikoto scowled. "What was that all bout anyway? And in front of my school too? Do you know what that can do?!"

"Give me a bloody break," Accelerator snapped hotly at her. "Those chicks are irrelevant here. All they know is making up stupid shit…"

"Okay okay." Touma hissed, sliding a hand between the other two. "I spoke too soon…"

"Now," he continued. "What are you doing? And stop giving me any of that coincident crap. I know both of you are scheming something here."

"It's not a fucking scheme dumbass." Accelerator complained, but it only fell on deaf ears.

It took a few moments of silence for them as the question sank in. Accelerator stared at the guy calculatingly – it really wouldn't hurt him, well, not as much as it would the Railgun anyway if the hero found out about this. He had nothing to lose in this bet, honestly – maybe except a few shreds of dignity (that died an embarrassing death under Touma's right fist already) and a crap ton of sleep. But the wench, on the other hand – he cast a glance at her.

Misaka Mikoto was blinking up at Touma – looking like she would either break down into tears or chance a run at any time now.

Accelerator stared at the both of them. So that was how it is. It made sense eventually. If not even her closest friends knew about these episodes of instability, then letting her ideal hero/friend, and probably something a bit more (he would rather not dwell on _that_ kind of stuff) know that she was turning sick in the head would have got to sting badly. And the brat was as twitchy as she was already.

For the up tenth time that day, Accelerator suppressed a long sigh. He was here to fix his mistake, not to make more anyways. Fixing himself straight, he called forward for the guy to look back at him.

"Alright asshole, l…"

"No, wait."

Mikoto suddenly said, breaking him off. Accelerator snapped his head to her in surprise, but she's keeping her gaze steadily on Touma. Brown eyes dark in a shade of edges and focus he's never seen before.

"Accelerator came here today because of me," she said. Loud and clear between all three of them. "I wanted to talk to him about what he did to save ten thousand of my SISTERS."

(TBC)

* * *

 **A/N : Remember how in chap 3 Mikoto ran into Worst at the hospital and they had a talk , yes - that. I've finally made it relevant now booyah!**

 **Happy holiday guys! Thanks for all your reading, favorites and following. Review and let me know what you think~**


	7. Chapter 6

.

 _The world, was definitely very tiny, and also very sick in the head._

* * *

 **Chapter 6:**

Misaka Mikoto has always been one to follow social norms.

It didn't just come from being born with a silver spoon, oh no, her mom wasn't exactly the classiest of a lady to live up to and dad was almost never around. It was the little things that she picked up from time to time from watching other people, like her mind just grew and learned with every motion, every interaction, although never with a purpose. Not until the day she found out electricity fired off from just the tips of her fingers and she could fry dad's favorite CD player dead if she just focused hard enough (and she did, papa did not sound happy on the phone when mama called him that afternoon).

And it happened, just like that. No tragedies. No life-changing events. Misaka Mikoto learned about her new little knack of powers in ease and normality. But for a child, so young and innocent and with such a creative mind, it was so easy to believe that you can take on the whole world if you just _try_ hard enough.

Thus it was set. The excited little kid that she was threw herself into training after training. Until her whole body practically breathed out magnetic field and the CD player turned into a whole building that she could bring down just from a zap here and there. And for a while, it really did feel like she'd finally had the world in her hands.

But people were greedy and curious, like the ones in white robes and thick glasses. _Especially_ those. They came with tools on their hands and promises in their smiles. She let them poke needles through her skin and draw out blood and if there were any questions or doubts – _"Don't worry, Misaka-san. We're just trying to save people here"; "You're doing us a great help"_ – and she shut her mouth and happily continued on with her life.

But middle school came. And by then burned out coins scattering around had made people put a name for her and she was even more encouraged to give effort into homework with the same amount of work that she spent improving her electric charges. And everyone was so happy with her. Mom looked pleased with each grade report brought home and dad always sounded proud on the other end of the phone. The teachers were nice too. Everything was good.

It didn't occur to Mikoto anything was wrong, until sensei became nice, too nice, and only to her. And the seats next to hers became emptier and emptier after each day. And the whispers became louder; past stories became chirping gossips and the infamous Railgun became Tokiwadai's Ace. And her name finally became something to both wear and uphold.

It turned into a part of her, in the end. "Do great"; "Be good"…became a constant chant and they burned away inside, hanging on the mind and embedding on the skin. It's good to do this and it's bad to do that, Misaka-san. Bring back good grades; learn the rules; smile and be nice to other people; make our school proud. Just live up to your name – all spoken so easily and no one ever realized just how hard they were to actually _do_ it. Her mind maybe slowly crumbling away piece by piece but as long as she smiled it was good enough. Because _'The rest are messed up. They're strong but unstable so you're our only hope. So_ smile, _Misaka-san. You're our mascot. Our City lives up to you.'_

So she did. Stuck rules to her head and painted morals as ideals to live by. If people want then she would give. Whatever they so desired. Until her knuckles bled and her tears poured dry.

Mikoto never thought of anyone else suffering more, until Misaka Worst told her about Accelerator.

"… _The bullet fragments in his skull destroyed his computation, mobility, and language abilities. He was_ crippled, _Onee-sama. That's why he has to be connected to the Misaka Network through the choker, because it helps him function again."_

" _And he went through all of that…to save the SISTERS?"_

Worst was always the mischievous one in the batch. But the look the older girl sent her then spoke nothing of humor and taunt.

" _You may refuse to believe what MISAKA said. But MISAKA lives with him so MISAKA knows. If Onee-sama is so doubtful, don't listen to his words. Watch what he does and you'll see, Onee-sama."_

It hurt. So much. There was only a handful of people she held dear to her heart: Mom, Dad, Kuroko, Saten, Uiharu, Touma, the SISTERS (maybe a _little_ more than a handful). And even at her best she still couldn't save them. _He_ had to save them. Almost turned himself into a vegetable helping them when she didn't even know they needed help. And now too. She brought that wretched guy nothing but misery and bother and still he stood out to help. Today only served to prove that point further.

Thus it was that irony that helped her set up her mind. Even if her mind turned corrupted and her hands tainted with blood, she would fight tooth and nail to redeem again. There were people to treasure and to keep and they would never have to know.

"Brat, what're the hell you on about?"

Accelerator snapped at the girl, but her gaze never trailed away from the boy in front of them – who was looking every sense of confused and surprised.

"You see, it's a personal matter now. So _please_ Touma," she pressed on, not even sparing the other Level 5 a glance. "I'd like to talk to Accelerator alone."

Touma blinked at them, as if not believing his own eyes. Accelerator didn't blame the guy. He was pretty sure his were just an inch away from falling out of their sockets either.

"A…Are you sure?" he stammered out.

Mikoto smiled at him. The kind that looked assuring but was definitely not. Accelerator would have laughed if his mouth wasn't half frozen in place.

"Yeah, I think I'm pretty sure."

"Okay. I'm not really following what's going on here but alright," then he threw Accelerator a glare – a gesture that the latter was more than glad to return the sentiment. "Call me if there's trouble though."

"Of course."

He nodded, but then as if remembering something, almost jumped in surprise.

"Aaaah crap, I forgot to get Index pizza. She's gonna bite my head off. Literally." He groaned in dismay, draping a hand over his face.

"Go then," Mikoto chided at him, breaking into another smile when the guy hesitated, "I'll call if there's anything, really."

Touma still looked unconvinced, but nodded nonetheless. Throwing Accelerator another doubtful look, he turned to leave, seemingly preparing to break into a run for the pizza stop.

"Tell Index I say hi!" she called after him, just because. That overly jealous nun brat needed a taste of her own medicine. It was a petty revenge, but she was slowly dropping her good girl act bits by bits already, so why bother.

The guy raised a hand in acknowledgement without turning around. Quietly, Mikoto watched him leaving and felt the weight in her chest slowly ease out, just for a moment.

"So"

The low, raspy grumble came from somewhere next to her left and Mikoto turned to face its owner. Accelerator's brows were furrowed and his eyes were glaring red.

"What the _fuck_ was that, you little brat?"

* * *

The tattered mess from their earlier brawl from before was still evident in the vast space behind the abandoned warehouse. The smell of charred rocks was still faint in the air and there was a few metal rails plunged to the ground that they had to go around. Misaka Mikoto was walking in front of him and Accelerator was trailing behind, kicking a few rocks out of the way just to have something to do as his mind was preoccupied.

The girl had not spoken a word since when they were in the ally. She's simply addressed him to head to their usual meeting place first and he's grudgingly followed. He's debated shouting and possibly making a show of cussing out, but then what she's admitted earlier completely ruined any verbal attempts.

It wasn't like he never thought about actually telling the Railgun what happened. But what was it – their plates were as full as they were already. And just nonchalantly dropping a ' _Hey, so your SISTERS got infected with a virus and almost gone on a rampage once but no worries I got that dealt with. Took a bullet to my head and turned fucking_ crippled _but no bother'_ wasn't very…dexterous. Anti-climactic even. And the girl was already burdening herself up as she was. Him adding up to her guilt list was no less like leaving her to wallow on her own 'til the point of no going back.

They were sitting now, on an overused huge metal cargo box so old and rusty the molding smell was almost overwhelming. He's sitting at one end and she on the other and the whole picture just seemed completely baffling he probably wouldn't even believe it if he were the just an audience looking on from the outside. In his mind, the 'How's' and 'What's' and 'The fuck?'s were on the verge of bursting open, but he stayed quiet – patiently waiting for the girl, whose thoughts seemed to be far away from where they were.

The silence seemed to stretch on forever before she finally spoke up.

"I was 6 years old, when they came for me, you know."

It took a moment for him to understand. Eyes narrowing, he nodded and waited for her to continue, even though she was not noticing.

"They…They said with that kind of power in my DNA, I could help them find out how to cure paralysis, muscular dystrophy, stuff of that sort," she said, unblinking. "They showed me all the possibilities of this experiment and they all sounded so astonishing and amazing I believed them. _Stupidly_. Naïvely so."

"I never thought about it twice since then. Just figured I got my part done, the rest was theirs…I know I've blamed you on the whole thing, but I know now…if it weren't for me in the first place, none of us would have to even be here."

 _Ne, Onee-sama. What would you do if you find out there's a copy of you running around?_

 _I think I'd want them to disappear._

"…So I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I've done. And even though I don't think I can ever forget what happened to 10,000 of the SISTERS, but I'm sorry for putting you in that position," she finally said.

She didn't expect an answer right away, but when the silence stretched on and still no signs of him speaking up, she finally caved. Nervously chancing a quick peek at the guy, she almost winced away to see the red, gleaming irises staring straight back at her.

If Mikoto was looking for shock or anger, she's met with none. Accelerator was facing her, but not in the way she expected him to, but more like in the way one would look if she offered herself on a silver platter to them. No, the strongest of their kind was looking at her with no surprise, rage or contempt, but instead – with what had to be the blankest stare she's ever witnessed of the Esper.

"…If this is some kind of ploy to get me to warm up or whatsoever," he finally said, "you're doing a damn fucked up job at it."

She stared at him. "Are you seriously serious right now?"

"Me? I should be asking you that!"

"No. Did you not hear anything at all? I've just bared myself out to you and _that's_ how you're going to respond to it?"

Accelerator blinked at the girl.

He was Accelerator – the one whose name was enough to evoke fear in at least a ten-mile radius. He's killed and gotten killed and still _lived_. This was something he's supposed to be able to weather through. And he had to, because it was the only way he knew how to survive.

Never in this life would he ever even imagine them meeting like this, listening to the Railgun admitting her mistakes and apologizing was just straight up incomprehensible.

But there they were now. And the girl, real and alive and impossible in every sense, was looking at him and saying sorry and it wasn't forgiveness but it was the closest he could get to redemption for the SISTERS and it just can't, _can't_ be real.

What was he supposed to do now? This was so different. Different from those labs where they put tubes in his body and asked him to kill for a test run. Different from his house, his home (and he _has_ a home now for fuck's sake) where Last Order would look on and read him like an opened book. He didn't feel tongue-tied, didn't even _feel_ anything often. But right then his chest felt so tight and his eyes were stinging. The metal edges where he was digging his hands into were splintering his palms but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the girl. Could never turn away from calm, dark brown eyes. He thought his body wanted to cry and combust. He thought he ought to run away and curl himself tight in somewhere she could never find. Away from all this acceptance and apologies and the _good_ she was freely giving away. Because this was everything that those endless, sleepless nights have been haunting him about and how could he live with himself like this? How could _she_ live with herself like this?!

"You…You don't know what you're talking about," he rasped.

"No, but I know enough."

"Shut up," he growled, abruptly scrambling to stand up. "Just shut up. How…Why the fuck are you even _doing_ this huh?"

 _I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for apologies or acceptance._

 _I don't fucking deserve any of that._

The urge to scream was overwhelming, but he stilled himself, looking on in wary as the girl also stood up from her spot and dusted at her skirt.

"I…I can't say that I understand how you feel, because I don't and we're not…close, like that," she said slowly.

"But as unbelievable as it sounds, I know what it feels like to have the world on your shoulders."

She was facing him now, shoulders squared and eyes – dark and so understanding he could feel his throat constrict on its own. "Nobody should have to go through what you've endured, and I've only added more to your burdens because of my ignorance. Even now, too. So yes, I am sorry, Accelerator. And thank you, for saving them."

The soft flesh at his palms had already started to feel wet and warm from where his nails were digging in. He was staring at her and didn't know what to say, what to even feel.

But then her words sunk in. And it was like a weight was finally pushed off his chest, his lungs sprang open and his throat loosened. He felt light, light, lighter than he's ever felt. Even his heart was tripping along with half its usual weight, propelling him upright just to be able to stay steady on his feet in front of her. Of this. Of everything they've said and not.

It was not what he ever expected, but it was everything and more than he could ever ask for.

"Alright," he finally said.

It was short and inapt, but the girl understood nonetheless. The nod and the ghost of a smile on the curve of her mouth was more than enough.

"Although," he continued, titling his head. "How the hell did you even managed to find ou…"

"Worst. Accidentally ran into Worst while visiting a SISTER so I asked her about your choker. It wasn't hard to piece two and two together and she wasn't very...discreet about you too, to be honest..."

"Tch, thought so…Fucking bitch. Can't never stop running her damn mouth."

"Don't talk about my sister like that."

"You're not the one living with that hellion of a brat. You don't know what I have to put up with everyday."

"Oh right, we've just reestablished that, haven't we? Your life is very miserable."

"Shove it, Third-rate."

* * *

Kihara Gensei was a man who knew things.

You ought to, especially in his line of field. Stick a needle into the wrong vein and everything can turn into chaos. He worked with precision and accuracy. Moreover, he also studied, hard, especially when it concerned superhuman beings like espers and the limitless possibilities of powers they could preserve.

The world maybe acceptant of Level 5 as the strongest, but how could they know there was so much more to it than that. Here they have a boy who can control vectors, one who creates and wields his own personal matter, a girl who reads minds and renders people into puppets…and they settled for just a level. No, Kihara was not that dense and ignorant. He's seen what these people could do, and he's certain with just the right push, the world would never be able to stay the same with them ever again.

Even if that means he had to completely destroy oneself to achieve it.

The Academy City's hospital was no strange place to him, but to navigate around was still a meddlesome task. It's been a while since he last set foot here, not since that dreadful Level 6 Shift Project. It still stung to remember. The plan was good and precise. Everything was perfectly set up. It could have worked spectacularly. But no, some arrogant _child_ had to come in and ruin it for him.

Never again.

The woman behind the counter looked up and blinked when she saw him, but recovered soon enough to hide behind a polite smile.

"Hello, how can I help you here?"

Misaka Mikoto may have succeeded in escaping from her destined fate before, but she's not getting out of his clutch this time. He's just a few steps away from the next evolution of scientific powers, and the Railgun was going to be the front line base for this, whether she wants it or not.

The woman barely managed not to wince when he peered down at her with a leer.

"Yes, I'm looking for Misaka 10032's room."

* * *

"It's getting worse."

Accelerator figured he has to be used to the girl admitting stuff by now, but he's not. The blank look he sent her way was replied with a defeated sigh from the latter.

"The nightmares. I don't know why," she shook her head. "I see them even when I'm awake now. You see them too, right?"

Well, he's been nice enough to not point it out in case she exploded in another emotional outbreak. But since they were at this already, "…Yeah."

"See, something's wrong." _With me_ , but that went without saying for them.

"I told you this before, didn't I? You're not even trying to push them away anymore. That's gotta be why."

"But it just doesn't make sense. I don't know what or how, but something just feels wrong, nowadays. Like my body just can't seem to stay still anymore."

The girl was at it again – staring blankly ahead. Accelerator tried very hard not to snap to catch her attention like he would usually do at home. This was a different Misaka. A very weird, brash and impossible Misaka. Somewhere distant at the back of his thoughts, Accelerator figured he should start to appreciate the chill, mindless side of the rest of the SISTERS.

"What do you think I should do?" she finally said, turning back to face him.

If he were shocked about someone asking him for advice, Accelerator thought he had it covered up quite well.

"Damn brat, you're the good guy here. How am I supposed to know?"

"Geez, no need to get worked up," she blinked at him. "But still though, what do you think?"

"Tried thinking happy thoughts yet?" he scoffed.

"What?"

"Kittens, puppies, rainbows, girly shit…Or that stupid green frog? The hell do I know."

"Hey, leave Gekota out of this!"

"God fucking hell. It _was_ you after all! Do you know how many times I had to drag my ass out of bed just because the wretched brat wanted to go buy stuff stamped with that retarded frog's face?!"

"We are _not_ having this discussion here right now," she fumed hotly, ears suddenly turning a shade warmer.

"Suuuure."

"I mean it. We need to be serious here. This is important."

"Yeah, yeah. Nightmares, getting messed up in the head. What else is new, huh?"

 _We are_ , was what she'd say. But then that would come out sounding sudden, and odd, and he'd probably take it out of context. Hell, now that she inwardly replayed it in her head, the thought really did just sound wrong. Those gossiping girls at school were finally getting to her after all. Mikoto tried not to cringe at the idea on the outside.

"…You know, I think something is going to happen soon, to be honest," she said instead.

He turned to her this time, brows furrowing.

"Really, it's just a feeling. But I don't think we should take this lightly," she insisted.

For a while he just stared at her, contemplating. If this were just a few weeks ago, Mikoto would have recoiled away under those red, calculating gaze. But it was different now. The look he's giving her was nothing of contempt or anger, and it's a refreshing new feeling to drown in.

"Fine, I'll see what I can dig up."

Then he sighed. Soft and barely audible but she's heard it anyways. Mikoto barely managed to snap her mouth close before another apology slipped out.

He was turning away now, looking on ahead, and for the first time, Mikoto finally had a good look at the guy in front of her. The already unusually pale skin was turning almost ghostly under the soft sunlight now. There's eyebags under his eyes and from this angle, she could see clearly the sharp edge of his nose and the curve of his mouth. His albino hair was a bit longer than she's remembered, bangs swaying ever so lightly just right above stark white eyebrows. She never noticed before, but his face, when not confronted in a manic rampage, was actually quite young and boyish looking. But the look he always seemed to wear already covered away a lot of that. And it finally hit Mikoto, so sudden and baring she almost reeled back at the realization, how much he's actually _been_ through – fighting for scraps and bidding from the world that took away too much to give back.

"Okay."

She muttered, wondering why she suddenly felt embarrassed. If Accelerator noticed anything odd, he only spared her a glance before turning away again.

"I…I should leave. I promised my friends I'd meet them after class already."

He nodded, watching as the girl fiddled at her skirt and smoothed down her beige sweater. Her movements were a bit jumpy and almost…bashfully as she turned to anywhere but him. Accelerator contemplated calling the girl out on it, but thought better of it. Girls were one equation he refused to do the math on, and the Railgun was not out of the range.

"Yeah, so…" she muttered, then as if deciding to do better, snapped up to meet him eye to eye.

He didn't need to look further to understand what she wanted to say.

"I'll contact if there's anything."

He's said simply, but she got it nonetheless. Giving him another nod and a rather awkward mumble of goodbye, she turned and walked away. Accelerator stayed and watched her leaving. And if his eyes lingered on the girl just a bit longer than necessary, nobody would have to know.

(TBC)

* * *

 **A/N: Character and relationship development anyone? (・ε・)**

 **First upload of 2017 and things are looking good so far. Only just a few chapters left so bear with me~**

 **Thanks for reading, favorite and following. Reviews are always appreciated!**


	8. Chapter 7

.

 _And if his eyes lingered on the girl just a bit longer than necessary, nobody would have to know._

* * *

 **Chapter 7:**

The rest of that night was painful and asthmatic. By the time Accelerator got home, his feet already ached and his body felt like lead. It's been hours since that – that cursed _talk_ , and he still had a hard time wrapping his head around what's happened between the two of them. The only condolence he had was that he could at least think about it without choking on his own breath anymore.

Yoshikawa gave him a firm look that said 'Passed curfew again, kiddo' which he shrugged at. Last Order was all cheery and smiley as she greeted him. Worst pouted and demanded where he had been, which he replied with a stink eye because how the friggin' hell could the stupid brat just go and announce his whole life like that to the other wench and he knew he shouldn't be mad because she kind of did do him a favor but the Railgun said sorry and thanked him and fuck, fuck, _fuck –_

His body felt like it was everywhere, and his head was still a jumbled, incoherent mess. So he did the only thing he could manage at that moment to the three most important people in his home – grumbled in complaints, nodded at them in response and then dragged himself to his bedroom, calling the day off. They didn't pester anymore, probably because he was wearing some shit look on his face, but he was glad nonetheless.

It didn't leave even when he was in bed and lying on the covers. His nerves were still jittering but Accelerator refused to turn and toss around like some cliché trouble-minded teenager, instead just laying himself flat on the mattress and staring up at the ceiling in the dark shadow of his room.

There were screams and cries echoing at the back of his mind – courtesy of the girl's twisted head, but he was not focusing on that right now. All he could think about was the biting, chilling feel of the wind through the thin material of his shirt and the heavy ring of the girl's words hanging in the air between them then.

Misaka Mikoto, the Original of the SISTERS, the root of his sins and guilt, actually apologized and thanked him. Accelerator thinks he's going to be sick.

He could have denied it all, blamed whatever she said on her flighty state, _you don't fucking know what you're asking for_. But the truth was that he couldn't, not even if he forced himself to. It was selfish and unfair and narrow-minded to even think he deserved any of that. And he didn't, he really didn't. He could spend the rest of his life protecting the brat and the SISTERS, throwing himself into the gunfire and then some and it would still not be enough to cleanse off the blood on his hands. It's a vicious circle of self-loathing and atonement, and if there's something Accelerator has learned, it's that it will never end.

 _"But as unbelievable as it sounds, I know what it feels like to have the world on your shoulders."_

But Misaka Mikoto gets it. In her own, twisted kind of way. She's carried the same kind of fear and repulsion to herself like he has. And just by simply saying a few measly words she's managed to show him that. Not just acceptance, gratitude or apologies. It was empathy. And it's exhilarating and so very dangerous but it was what cut the deepest.

It must be a mental thing. It had to be. This tightness in his chest and this lodge in his throat. Only brown hair and brown eyes have managed to tear and scar this much and with so little effort. And inside, somewhere deep and dark and never to be acknowledged, he knew he wouldn't have it any other way.

In his mind, Misaka Mikoto screamed and cried. Accelerator closed his eyes and tried to suck air back into his lungs. And if his eyes burned and his palms bled, only the two of them would have to know.

* * *

Gossips spread like wildfire, especially when it concerned famous names and titles.

Mikoto shouldn't have forgotten about this, but she did, and the thought did not even register until she stepped into the classroom the next morning and blinked as hundred pair of eyes suddenly zoomed in on her. One of those belonged to a very confused, and very angry teleporter girl.

"Onee-sama!"

Shirai Kuroko shrieked, and flung herself across the classroom to make a grab at Mikoto's shirt collar. Light brown eyes wild and flaming.

"Where did you go before coming to meet us last night, huh?! Why are people talking about you taking off from school yesterday with some guys?!"

"K…Kuroko…"

"And not one. But two! TWO GUYS?! Who were they, Onee-sama?! How come you didn't tell me any of th- Oof!"

Mikoto fumbled, and immediately released an electric bolt that sent the other girl dropping butt first on the floor. Kuroko groaned at the impact, looking like she was about to cry, and Mikoto thinks she's not far gone from that either as what the other Esper said finally sank down on her.

"Oh Gosh, what…?"

"Really…two guys?"

"And to think she's the Ace of our school."

"That's so strange and out of character for her though…"

"One of them was apparently a famous Level 5 too…"

"Hey now, let's not make assumptions here…"

"But still…"

The whispers, well, more like side remarks only calmed down when Sensei finally entered and started his lecture, but Mikoto could still hear them ringing loud and clear in her head. The whole class that morning lasted like a lifetime, and by the time the bell rang Mikoto was still left sitting at her desk in shock and utter defeat. The curious glances and gossipy chatters sent her way did not help much either.

"Onee-sama?"

Maybe she could just close her eyes, stop breathing and die before she had time to deal with how utterly screwed up everything has turned into.

"I didn't snoop around, Onee-sama. I just came to class this morning and everyone was talking about it," the girl quietly explained.

"How, Kuroko?" she mumbled, not even daring to look up.

"I think I should be asking you that Onee-sama."

There was a scuffling sound, and then the chair in front of her was pulled back and Kuroko's pink twin tails came into view.

"Onee-sama," she started, and Mikoto felt her heart drop back to her stomach. "Please, tell me what's going on?"

"Kuroko…"

"No, listen to me. You've been sweating and mumbling in your sleep. Every time we hang out you're just either quietly sitting there or staring at an empty space. And now you're running off with some _boys_? You know I'd support you through anything, but we're worried, so you need to explain to me what's wrong."

She wanted to deny, she did. Stand up and refuse everything. Keep them away, safe and hidden from her erratic, unstable frenzy. But the look the girl was wearing then stung more than she could take – they'd finally hit a wall. And Mikoto could only swallow and stare on.

"Okay," she finally said. _Okay._ "I'll tell you. And Saten and Uiharu. I'll say everything. But only after class. Right this afternoon."

* * *

She's thought of dying.

It's a stupid, dangerous thought, but Mikoto dwelt on it nonetheless. She wasn't sure when the first time she felt like this, but it sure as heck wouldn't be the last time she would be left mulling over it.

She could feel them everywhere now. In every waking, breathing moment. Heard the whispers at the back of her thoughts; the spilled blood behind her eyelids; and the shimmering force of something dark and heavy swelling low in her stomach. Like a restless beast, just looking for a slip to surge to life and take her over.

It's ailing and exhausting. She's supposed to go on with her days in that happy go lucky girl façade, and swallow back any twisted, destructive ideas. But her mind was not hers anymore, her body ached and tired. And by the end of the day, Misaka Mikoto wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and just stop _feeling_.

She thinks she's finally understood why Accelerator always acts like he does, just a little bit.

The chattering was even worse outside, and even with Kuroko walking next to her, Mikoto still could not help the angry blush that flushed down her face whenever they pass by a group of girls. She could only catch fleeting words and jumbled up sentences, but it wasn't hard to understand what they were trying to imply. It was wrong, completely far from the truth, and sometimes downright _insulting_. The thought of blasting an arcade coin across the campus for a warning was tempting, but she held herself steady.

That, too, however, went to the drain when a shrill, feminine voice drawled her attention.

"Ara, ara, isn't this our school's infamous Ace. Misaka-san!"

Mikoto stopped short on her tracks, and nearly cracked the cell phone in her hand.

"Misaki," she acknowledged thickly.

"How are you? Have you been feeling well?" the other girl chuckled daintily, no doubt grinning from ear to ear.

"Or not, huh. You should take care of yourself too. But oh, who needs to deal with that when you have two _guys_ at your feet, right?"

Sad, sick, _and_ twisted. Can't whoever lord almighty above spare her for just one damn day?

The whispers finally intensified a few notches stronger, and Mikoto bit at her lower lip hard enough to draw blood. She spun around to meet with breasts and golden, starry eyes.

"Touma-kun I understand, but who's the other mysterious guy I wonder, hmm?" Misaki Shokuhou pursed her lips in thought. And the gleam in her eyes was bright enough to make Mikoto's stomach lurch. "Who knows Tokiwadai's Ace can be sooo popular with boys…?"

"Why yo…" Kuroko scorned hotly, but Mikoto stuck her hand out before the younger girl could interrupt.

"You'd love to know, wouldn't you?" she sneered instead. "Try it then. C'mon, read my mind, if you're so curious."

Misaki blinked at them, but smiled nonetheless. "Ah, don't get so worked up. I'm just having a little fun. You're so serious, Misaka-san."

 _Not just serious anymore, I'm afraid_ , Mikoto thought darkly, watching in wary as the other Level 5 flipped a silky blond strand over her shoulders. Mikoto would throw away all her Gekota collection before ever admitting it out loud. But as cunning and crazy as that girl was, it was hard not to acknowledge the ever attractive, feminine features she always flaunted so effortlessly. And even if there were times when she didn't look as good in public, the girl could always just wipe that memory off their minds. It was a sick ability, but sure must be nice to alter people's minds into whatever you wanted.

 _Wait_ , her mind took a reel back. Mikoto blinked at the girl in front of them.

Of course. Who else could deal with psychological malfunction better than the master telepath of Academy City herself?

But then it was Shokuhou Misaki, and there's a long list of reasons to explain why Mikoto avoided the pretty face like the plague. Sure they've helped each other before – during that sick, twisted Level 6 'experiment' and the blondie turned out to be not half as bad as Mikoto made her out to be. But asking for the Queen's help was no less like another Accelerator episode, and even when she and the guy have somehow managed to settle into a weird, compiling kind of alliance, Mikoto was still one hundred percent certain she was definitely not in need of anymore of those.

"Anyway," the girl continued, and Mikoto snapped out of her thoughts to stare at her again. "It was nice seeing you around. But there's a club meeting I'll have to tend to. Next time, Misaka-san."

Behind her eyes, black atoms exploded and blood splattered. Mikoto barely managed not to lose her breath and drop to her knees. There was screaming and crying and it was so dark and cold and paralyzing she had to stop before it got out of her. She needed to _stop_. Before it was too late.

"Wait!"

The blond faltered on her tracks, and turned halfway back at her, brows raising in question.

Right. Sucking in a breath and swallowing her pride back, Mikoto stepped forward, sticking an arm out to prevent Kuroko from approaching them. Brown eyes firm and steady.

"I think we need to talk."

* * *

The next day came, and Accelerator's still not sure if what happened actually really happened. Or how to act. But he's settled into their normal routine smoothly enough. Sat at the dining table and sipped on his much needed coffee, Last Order happily chomping down on her food on one side. Yoshikawa threw him glances here and there, which he promptly ignored, and she didn't question any further, whereas Worst and him have quickly settled into this silent agreement of _'Misaka Mikoto is batshit insane and we need to figure out how to stop it fast before she finally loses it'_ , so they could only both try to weather through the assaulting images and keep their mouths perfectly shut when in the house.

But then afternoon came, and Worst loudly announced she got somewhere to go, which Last Order questioned and only received an "I'll explain later" as a reply. Accelerator just sort of nodded and dismissed her after giving a curfew warning, his thoughts now forever occupied with another Misaka's state of mind.

It was one of his rare day-offs. And more often than not he would be peacefully spending it lying on the couch or his bed and sleeping the daylights away, possibly participating in some embarrassing, girly shit like tea party and hair braiding because Last Order was definitely born to test his sanity, but things have been so different these days it was hard to even simply slip back into his normal routine. Nowadays, when he's not busy contemplating his sad and pathetic life choices, Accelerator would only be left with the disturbing and horrid memories of what a certain Level 5 girl had to experience during a crooked, corrupted experiment to deal with.

He's sent out a few texts here and there, waiting for replies from some of his trusted 'sources' for some telltales running around the underground side of the city. It was not much, but if the girl was feeling some type of way, with her shifty state and all, it was definitely worth rummaging around. He's witnessed Second tearing himself apart, had a first-hand experience in losing his mind when he thought his brat was gone; watching the Railgun go through something of that sort would definitely be a disturbing idea to process, especially after all they've managed to pull so far. Thus it was best that they'd get ready to ride out whatever that was about to happen.

Even so, despite that, nothing can possibly manage to prepare Accelerator for what's about to come when the door of their house was slammed open.

"She's gone," Worst said, eyes wide and wild as she burst inside. "10032 is missing."

* * *

"Well, this is definitely a surprise."

Shokuhou Misaki commented dryly over her cup of tea. In her mind, Mikoto immediately translated that as _'What the hell are you doing?_ ' and quietly nodded in agreement at the girl.

At Mikoto's request for somewhere private, they've come to the other girl's place of guild, or whatever one would call a club that was formed to dedicate to solely admiring and serving a student. The few girls passing by shot them shocked and perplexed looks, which both shrugged off easily enough. Somehow Mikoto had a feeling Shokuhou would be spending her time erasing a few minds after this, and for once she's grateful for it.

"So, let's not tiptoe around the problem here," Misaki said, putting down her cup. "What do you want to discuss, huh?"

"…Well, here's the thing."

How did people go around this? She's racked through countless ways to bring it up, at least with Accelerator he's had a few sleepless nights to understand what she was going at. But Misaki was a different case. Certainly she couldn't just spill out everything, but still had to put out enough information to be descriptive.

"You remember the Level…Level 6 Shift Project right, with the Exterior and everything…?"

The girl blinked, starry eyes bright before suddenly a dark shadow started to cast over them. The pretty, teasing face quickly turning sober.

"Yeah, so I've been having nightmares about it. Constantly. And they're getting worse."

"…How worse?"

"Worse. As in I see them even in broad daylight and when wide-awake now."

"…And what are they about again?"

She shrugged. "Everything that I can recall from the experiment. But mostly during the…transformation."

It was unnerving to wait for a reaction, but Mikoto paddled through nonetheless – keeping her gaze steady as she watched the other Level 5 take in the detail. Misaki's eyes were a blazing gold under the afternoon sunset behind them, but the curve of her mouth pointing downward then spoke nothing of mischief and taunts.

"I wasn't there when you went through all of that, but if it's as serious as what you're saying then it's pretty normal to be experiencing nightmares after that kind of experience," she finally said, before diverting her gaze away in consideration. "But when you're starting to see them even when completely conscious…"

"It's not just a mental thing anymore then, I think. Huh, something must be triggering them to make you come back to them so constantly…"

Mikoto thought of the low, dangerous grumbles in her head, and blanched, almost flinching away when the other girl suddenly snapped back to her.

"Since the Shift Project? It's been going on for months?!"

"…Uh, yeah."

"Are you sick?"

"…No?"

"On drugs?"

She stared at the girl. "You're joking, right?"

"Hey who knows? Rumor has it you've been quite adventurous lately, you know," Misaki shrugged, grinning when the electro Esper glowered at her.

"That's weird though," she continued, completely unperturbed. "I'm sure I can whip up something if I do some research. But this is a pretty odd situation, usually you can alter to think what you'd prefer when conscious, but to be so infused…Are you sure you're okay? Like, mentally stable? No bad, destructive ideas…?"

Mikoto shook her head, mouth opened and steady, ready to slip through another lie, when the sound of the cell phone vibrating on the table caught both of their attention instead.

"Sorry."

She mumbled, picking up the phone and frowning when a strange number appeared on the screen. Mikoto stared, contemplating on shutting it off – mom has taught her better than that. But there was a strange, dreaded knot in her stomach, and against her better judgement, she flipped the screen open and brought it to her ear.

"Hello…?"

"Misaka-san, it's been a while, hasn't it?"

The voice was unfamiliar, but the cold jeer behind its tone was still enough to send chills down her spine. Mikoto looked up in wary, and blinked when she finally noticed Misaki's paling face.

"Who's this?" she mumbled, heart now lodged back in her throat.

"An old friend, actually. We have some catching up to do, I believe. And one of your close friends here is _quite_ excited about it."

There was a shuffle, and the next voice that came through the line was enough to drain any color off her face.

"Onee-sama?"

Misaka 10032 said, and just like that, Mikoto's world came crumbling down.

(TBC)

* * *

 **A/N: Can you believe I burned my pancakes thinking about what to write for this chap?**

 **Welp, fixed the errors some have pointed out (Thanks Anon!) and did more edits. Thanks for reading, following, favorites and comments. Seriously though, leave a review. I'd love to know how I've been doing and if there's something you guys want to see :))**


	9. Chapter 8

_._

 _In his mind, Misaka Mikoto screamed and cried. Accelerator closed his eyes and tried to suck air back into his lungs. And if his eyes burned and his palms bled, only the two of them would have to know._

* * *

 **Chapter 8:**

There were two, three,…five ringing, then the line stopped dead. Accelerator cursed, and almost bashed his cell phone against the wall.

"She's not fucking picking up," he growled on what was to be the seventh call he's made to reach Misaka Mikoto. Next to him, her older clone just nodded and looked around.

"When I came to the hospital the woman behind the counter just said someone else came to see her just a few hours before I did," Worst said somberly, "It was a man."

"A sick bastard. I know exactly who that is," Accelerator said darkly, and pocketed his phone. "The problem is where."

"Do you think he's called Onee-sama already?"

"Most likely. She's not picking up. Probably on her way to the rescue for 10032 already without even thinking if it's a trap or not. Fucking dumbass."

"Last Order is still here, you know."

"She's used to it," he barked, and made a grab at the little girl's coat collar. "Your job, brat. Talk through the Network and try to locate 10032. Hurry."

"'I know already' MISAKA yells to Accelerator as MISAKA gets pulled back. 'The other Sisters are trying to contact 10032 too but no replies so far'"

Last Order mumbled, nursing at her neck as she looked on in worry. It was grating to see the little girl looking so panicked, although Accelerator knew he doesn't look better than any of them. They've reached a dead end, and if he didn't act fast anytime soon, Misaka Mikoto would very well be on her way of self-destruction.

"C'mon," he said to the girls, and felt his stomach sink at the idea flashing through his mind. "I know where to go first."

* * *

"I don't even understand what's going on anymore."

Kuroko muttered, and the two other girls could only nod and stare on in empathy. Saten cast a worried glance to the petite girl sitting next to her, but the latter could only shrug. Uiharu was just as clueless about this as all of them were.

"First she was acting all secretive and closed herself off. And when I finally got her to open up - poof, she left again! And for that arrogant, bullying blondie too!"

"I'm sure she can explain, Kuroko-san," Uiharu smiled reassuringly, sitting as stiff as a log in her seat. "She did promise to come here and talk to us once she's done, didn't she?"

"Yeah, but still…"

Uiharu nodded awkwardly, mentally preparing herself for another long rant from the teleporter when her sleeve was tugged. She turned to the intruder questioningly – but Saten was only focusing her wide-eyed stare at the door, one hand still gripping at her shirt. Uiharu curiously followed the girl's direction, and almost let out a yelp in surprise.

"– what I'd do to that pretty face for mocking Onee-sama. At least I should be glad she's actually following a girl instead of some _apes_ , but seriously how hard is it to jus...huh?"

Kuroko stopped, and frowned when she finally noticed the other girls' shocking expressions. She turned to where their eyes were looking at, and jumped up from her seat.

"I know you guys have office hours and all that bullshit," Accelerator said loudly at the door. "But this is an emergency."

He stopped short on his track when the three pair of eyes zoomed in on them immediately. If Kuroko were shocked, Uiharu and Saten are completely floored. Not just because they've finally come across that white-haired-guy-Misaka-san-obviously-knows-but-denies again, but because standing next to him were basically an older version of the Tokiwadai's Ace, and a smaller version of her on the other side.

"'Hiii' MISAKA says as MISAKA waves hello to Onee-sama's friends. 'We're here to get help and find Onee-sama.'"

"We're not here to make friends you stupid brat! Don't act so cheery."

"As if acting snappy like you would make them feel welcome."

"What did you just s – !"

Saten threw a helpless look to Kuroko for assistance, but the latter could only stare with opened mouth at the shocking sight, as flabbergasted as she was. Uiharu blinked continuously at them, but recovered before any of them could when what the little girl said finally sank in.

"Ano…, excuse me but, you're saying Misaka-san is in trouble?"

Accelerator shifted his eyes from Worst to look at the girl. "Yeah. Hey, you remember me right?"

 _There's only so many people with white hair and red eyes_ , but she's not that dense to say that out loud. As skinny and frail as the older boy seemed, he certainly didn't look like someone to mess around with.

"Y…Yes, I remember," she nodded, nervously stepping up to them. "What's going on?"

"Long story short. Your friend is missing. And if we don't find her soon, she's gonna cause serious mayhem."

"And why should we trust you, huh?!"

 _Wrong question, Kuroko-san_ , Uiharu's mind cried out as she winced on the outside. And she knew she was right when the glare the paler boy sent the teleporter's way was ice running down her spine.

"You fucking _don't_ ," he said darkly. "Look here, I don't have time for any of this questioning nonsense. But I need to have my shit sorted out with the Railgun. She's unstable and running into a trap like a fucking idiot right now, and if she gets triggered, you're all gonna be dead. So if you're her friends, I suggest you shut your mouth and start searching with us."

He didn't include himself in those who would be in danger, and Uiharu fought down a gulp. She just hoped Kuroko's caught the implication too.

"Okay, I'll…I'll set us up and we can leave right away."

She announced, and hurried back to get her stuff. Saten seemed to have finally caught on the seriousness of the situation, standing close behind her, quiet and nervous. Kuroko looked torn, but followed them nonetheless when they reached the door with the other three.

"Don't worry about what he said," the older girl told them. And the golden gleam in her eyes then looked nothing familiar on the Misaka's features. "That's just his way to show he's worried."

"Shut the hell up, Worst."

* * *

"Not again."

Misaki Shokuhou complained, and raised the cell phone in her hand higher in hopes of catching better connection, which was proving to be quite fruitless. "No signal!"

"I doubt there'll be any," Mikoto sighed. "There's a pretty strong jamming signal in this area right now, I can feel it." And isn't _that_ familiar?

She was not that dense. They were obviously walking into dangerous territory, most likely a trap. But 10032 had sounded so strained and tired on the other end of the line. And just the thought of the girl strapped against some cold metal, torn and cut open for torture was enough to run her blood frozen. She couldn't have stayed still then even if she'd wanted to.

"…There's no protection for 10032 like last time, isn't it?" she asked, and the blonde could only answer in silence.

"Her mind is free to take over anytime now," _like mine._

 _Your fault. Always your fault._

 _You can kill them. Fix it yourself. With this power._

 _Destroy them._

"We need to hurry."

Mikoto said thickly, and was grateful when the other girl didn't question and just walked faster to catch up with her.

* * *

Long ago, he was the only one needed to be saved.

The memories never frayed his mind. Accelerator doesn't need to close his eyes to see them – the awful, deeply rooted hatred at the world for its thirst and greed, at himself for just simply being _born_. Grew up with the world at his hands and no purpose in his mind. Always a lab rat. A subject. The scum that society couldn't get rid of just because his brain was too valuable to even _die_. Irony at its finest.

So yes, excuse him for hating it. For ever wanting to kill. What was there to mourn for? He died the day he was left alone on that playground, kids scurrying away and their parents whispering behind his back. _He's a monster_ , they said. And monsters don't feel, don't shed tears until its eyes dry out, don't scratch and claw at the dirt until its nails bleed. And as long as vectors still flow at his command and his skin blanches white, he would never be human. That was it.

And didn't that make the answer clear? If – if no one can help him, then only he can save himself, isn't that right? Kill until there was no more to kill, hate until the self-pity, the sadness faded away – just white noise, easily ignored… _Live for yourself cause nobody fucking cares._ And it was so easy. To just let everything go and fend for oneself. Never occupy by anyone. He'd live. And watch the world burn and rot on itself.

But it was different now. There's people – actual people who care and worry about his hateful, troublesome self. And it feels good and awful at the same time because now when he's finally known how that feels like he knows he would die again if they ever disappeared.

"I've got it," Uiharu said and raised up her tracking device for them to see. "I've found her."

Kuroko looked at the address before nodding to them. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go."

Misaka Mikoto may want to fall on her own. But Accelerator knows – if they were any like each other like she so said they were, then she would need to be saved, too.

* * *

"Well, if it isn't my two favorite Level 5's."

Kihara Gensei said dryly, standing a floor above them in a white lab coat and a manic gleam in his slanted eyes. Beside him sat Misaka 10032, strapped into a pole with ropes and with her head lulled on one side, seemingly unconscious.

Mikoto's fists curled against her skirt.

"Let her go," she groused, and protruded out an arcade coin.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Misaka-san. As you can see," and here he approached the girl, and tapped his finger against the side of her head –

"She's pretty unstable right now."

A hitch of breath caught her attention, and Mikoto turned to see the stricken look on the other girl standing next to her.

"What have you been doing to yourself, Misaka?" Misaki murmured as she teared herself away from the clone's mind and directed her gaze at her.

"I…It's not important right now," Mikoto swallowed, and flipped the coin on her thumb to get ready and aim.

"Not yet!" Misaki yelped, reaching out to grip at her wrist. "You'll hit her too with that big of a blast."

She stared at the girl as the realization dawned on her, but still turned stubbornly to look back at the other two in panic.

"But I have to save her…"

"And we will," the other girl nodded, before letting go of her hand.

Kihara looked down on them and watched closely, a thin smile splitting his face. Mikoto bristled, and Misaki didn't blame the girl at all when she felt her stomach knot itself on the inside.

"What do you want this time, Kihara?" she said instead, and forced herself to stare at him straight in the eye.

 _Bad move_ , because not only had he somehow managed to set up a field to shield his mind from her Mental Out like she was afraid he would, she's also had to deal with facing the malicious gleam in the scientist' slanted eyes. Misaki fixed herself straight and tried to fend off the shiver that has managed to crawl up her spine.

"Only what was stolen from me before," he said breezily, "That was a really smart move on your part, I got to give you that, destroying Exterior like that – "

"but fortunately, I won't be needing it this time."

He said, and then pulled out something too small for them to see. But then the gleam of metal caught Mikoto's eyes, and all coherent thoughts were immediately teared away from her head. Misaki barely managed to turn before the other girl screamed, and dropped the coin in her hand.

* * *

Thunder ripped the sky above them opened, and Accelerator felt his heart lodge up his throat as the lightning that beat down on them was as dark as the night.

"Well, shit," Worst said.

"That definitely does _not_ look normal at all," Saten breathed out, now completely panicked, "What _is_ that?!"

"That," he huffed, and switched on his choker, "means we're fucking _late_."

* * *

Misaki fell forward, and scrambled to get back up when she felt the earth beneath shift and move under her feet. The railgun blast the other girl just shot at Kihara has managed to destroy the ground floor, and now it was slowly crashing down on them in charred rocks and crumbles.

"Misaka!" she yelled through the noise. "10032!"

The other girl was nowhere to be seen, and Misaki desperately looked up and squinted her way through the dust to finally find the brunette balancing herself on a falling rock, with the clone unconscious and limp in her arms. The blonde barely managed a sigh of relief as she backed herself up against a wall.

Mikoto jumped down and reached her, gently laying 10032 down.

"What now?" Misaki coughed, and draped the clone's arm over her shoulders.

"You go and take her out of here," Mikoto said, breathing heavily. "I'm going to go look for Kihara."

"You're crazy! This whole place is going down."

"I'll be fine. I have my ATM magnet field to shield myself," she stared at the other girl firmly, " _You_ don't."

She's right, but Misaki was anything but admitting that.

"You can have your stupid revenge later. We have to get out of here first." She shouted in annoyance.

"Misaki."

The blonde stared at the girl, and fought down a lump in her throat. Misaka Mikoto was wearing that look again – that cliché, determined, stupidly stubborn gaze that allowed no talking down or refusal. One that reminded her horribly of a certain prototype – of _"Let's go to the amusement park together when I'm finally out";"We can have so much fun, with you, me and Mi-chan"_. It was surreal and suffocating. And before she could react, the girl stood up again and turned away.

"Yaaa…!"

"Go! I'll catch up with you as soon as I can."

 _It runs in the blood after all_ , Misaki thought darkly, and pulled 10032 on her feet with a huff. First Dolly, and then her Original. Bossing her around and just being a stubborn idiot every time. A rock suddenly fell down right behind them and cracked open into crumbles on the rumbling ground, and Misaki held the girl tighter against herself and limped to the nearest hallway to exit the place.

She needed to find help for the Railgun. And she needed to do it fast.

* * *

The place was on the brink of utter destruction by the time they finally reached it. Accelerator fought down the urge to just sprint forward and blast the moving ground apart to look for the girl. Besides him, Last Order gasped in shock and immediately reached for the hem of his shirt, and he forced his hands to loosen and lay a warm palm on the little girl's head in comfort.

"Oh Gosh," Uiharu whispered, and clutched her fists tightly together.

"What now?" Worst said impatiently, standing on her tip toes to try and look through the falling rubbles.

"She's not in there, is she? Misaka-san?" Saten murmured, about to turn away when two figures from afar caught her eyes.

"Wait, everyone, look!"

She shouted, and immediately slided down the hill to run towards the two people – one's a famous blonde, she realized, the Level 5 Misaki Shokuhou, and the other – an unconscious brunette in a dirty, thin hospital gown.

She wished she could be surprised that the girl was not Misaka-san, but they had no time for that right now.

"Are you okay?" she asked as she skidded to a halt in front of them, and immediately caught the limp girl in her arms. Everyone else quickly followed her suit.

"We're fine," Misaki Shokuhou said hoarsely, and wrestled through a coughing fit to reach out and grip at her wrist. Saten looked at her in wary.

"Misaka is still in there. She needs help, fast."

"She's in _there_?!"

The blonde looked up, and nodded stiffly at the teleporter girl, whose eyes were big and bright in fury.

But before Kuroko could say anything else, an audible gasp caught their attention. Accelerator looked down at the girl lying in the others' arms, and felt his stomach twist as Misaka 10032 curled on herself and let out a quiet, shuddering breath. He barely managed to do anything when the two girls next to him suddenly dropped down on their knees.

"Brat," he yelled, and immediately pulled Last Order into his arms. The little girl writhed and gripped tight at his hand.

"'It's a virus!' MISAKA cries as MISAKA feels it go through her head.'"

"It's infecting our Network."

Worst groaned in pain, one hand holding her head as she slumped herself back next to them. Accelerator felt his blood run cold at the realization, and instinctively held the whimpering girl closer against himself.

A thunderous roar ripped out from above, and Accelerator looked up to see a surge of black electricity shot down and striked down right at the crumbling building in front of them, blasting a layer of dust in the air.

"Let me go!"

"Kuroko-san!"

Uiharu yelped, and tightened her hold on the other girl's waist. Kuroko's eyes were a wild and blazing color of copper as she tried desperately to wrestle out of the latter's grasp.

"I…I have to…Onee-sama…"

"You can't go in there right now. It's dangerous," cried Saten from where she was splayed on the ground, cradling the moaning Misaka clone.

"She's in danger!" Kuroko screamed, and Accelerator's finally made up his mind.

"The girl's right," he said, and gently pushed Last Order into Worst' arms, who looked up at him quizzically before realization dawned on her. He turned away before he could see the look on her face.

"You can't come in there," he said instead, and faced the three other girls. "But I can. I'll go."

"Who the hell do you think you ar – "

Kuroko shouted in frustration, before being forcefully pulled down by the other two, a hand draping across her screaming mouth. Accelerator looked at the girls, who could only reply with a nod and a rueful grin on their faces. He inclined his head in acknowledgement and thanks before turning to the other Level 5 – who was helping 10032 to tuck a hair strand away from the whimpering girl's face. She looked up as soon as she noticed him staring, and widened her eyes when she finally realized him.

"It's in crumbles already, but go to the center of the building," she said thickly, swallowing. "She said she wanted to find him."

There was no doubt as to who 'he' was, and Accelerator resisted the urge to vector-punch something apart. Instead he only nodded, and switched his choker back on again, before quickly taking off into the falling rubbles.

Next to them, Kuroko shrieked in desperation, and Misaki turned to the other girls – a grim look on her face.

"It'll be fine," she told them. "Out of all of us Level 5, he's the strongest. If there's anyone who can stop this, it's him."

 _Not just him_ , and she immediately took a reel back at the realization.

"Excuse me," she said thickly, and at the others' confused looks – pulled herself up to stand back on her feet again.

If he could stop this last time, he can definitely do it again, too, she assured herself, and willed her mind to take over one of the members of her club. Misaki slumped back on her feet, and stepped into another's mind, gritting her teeth.

 _Where's Kamijou Touma when you need him?_

Worst quietly watched the other girls from her spot, and found herself meeting their worries. In her arms, Last Order whimpered and moaned at the mental assault, and she could only mumble words and phrases in weak comfort, her head also ached on its own.

She's seen both the Level 5's destroying. But she's also seen them saving. And this time, she can only fervently hope it will be the latter.

* * *

Accelerator is good with directions – he is. But to navigate through the falling rocks and crumbling rubbles is another thing. It was the third time he's almost slammed himself into a piece of concrete, and he refused to blame it on his jumbled mind, which was only caring about one thing right then.

It took a while, but he finally reached the center of the building, which was – true to the blonde's words – falling apart. The ground shook under his feet, and he infused his power to glue them to the flat surface for balance.

"Accelerator…?"

Misaka Mikoto said, and Accelerator looked up to see her standing a couple of feet away, her electricity sizzling a bright blue, rubbles and debris falling all around them. There were tears in her big brown eyes, and she was saying something that fell deaf on his ears and forever lost in all the destruction between them.

But it was all he could see, before a baring black mass of energy came shooting down and swallowing her whole.

(TBC)

* * *

 **A/N : Hey ****( ͡⎚ ͜U ͡⎚)**

 **Obviously I can't just drop a bomb of a cliffhanger like this and get away with it, eh? Fear not, my people. Already working on the next one, watch me as I'll do another update in two days tops!**

 **Thanks for all your reading, following, favorites and reviews. And don't stop, guys ~ You're all doing great!**


	10. Chapter 9

_._

 _Misaka Mikoto may want to fall on her own. But Accelerator knew – if they were any like each other like she so said they are, then she would need to be saved, too._

* * *

 **Chapter 9:**

Her vision shut off with only the sight of Accelerator and his white hair and frantic red eyes as its last. Black atoms trailed up her body and clawed at her skin, ripping her apart with every bite, sinking into flesh and bones. Mikoto scratched and tore at them in despair but to no avail, her clothing crumbling away in bits and pieces at the baring force of its power. It wasn't a dream anymore, she can't wake up from this. And the realization was a cold, chilling crawl slithering up her spine.

 _I'm sorry. Oh God I'm so sorry._

It was the only thought she had before the monster finally engulfed her whole.

* * *

Accelerator cursed as another wave of black energy whipped out and swept around, at which he ducked and then blocked. His mind quickly solved the calculations in reflex – the substance was strangely thick and alien, but it clung to the girl like a second cloak of skin, thus he can still sense the familiar surge of power lying beneath.

How to shake that encaging energy awake was another thing, unfortunately.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Amidst the falling debris, he looked around for the source of the voice and found Kihara Gensei standing from afar on a charred rock in his white washed lab coat, looking on at the sight in front of them in great interest and satisfaction.

"You sick freak," Accelerator spat, and meant every word of it. "The fuck you think you're doing?!"

"Always so feisty, Number One," the man commented dryly, before tearing his eyes away to stare back at him. "Just finishing what I was set out to do in the first place here. You could have made it too, you know, but you chose to cower away and leave, instead. I'm quite disappointed, to be honest."

"So you poured it all on the Railgun's head instead?" he snarled. "I should just rip you to fucking shreds."

The man only chuckles humorously and shook his head at the threat. "Misaka-san was never the back-up plan, Accelerator-san. If you haven't known already, there's a reason she's always been Aleister's favorite – "

And at this he reached back into his lab pocket, before holding out a remote.

" – and I'll show you exactly why."

* * *

There was a hallowing scream ripped through the night, and the girls immediately whipped their heads around to look at its source. Last Order whimpered, and Worst cradled the little girl closer against her body, glaring up at the bright lightning that shoots across the dark night sky. Their heads echoed even more painfully than before.

"Uh, that doesn't sound good," Saten said, and swallowed.

"Do we just wait it out?"

Uiharu asked uneasily, nervously fumbling at blue the cell phone in her hand. She's already called Judgement, but doubted there was much ANTI Skill could do in this case by then, besides evacuating the civilian population around them.

There was another loud blast, and another layer of dust flooded over them as the left side corner of the building fell apart.

"That's it," Kuroko announced as soon as the air was clear again. "I'm going in."

"Shirai-san, please. We don't know what's going on in there."

"I don't ca…"

"Wait!"

The girls stopped in the middle of their argument, and turned to look at the platinum blonde standing a few feet away from them. Misaki was having her eyes closed, brows furrowing tightly in concentration but her voice rang loud and clear nonetheless.

"Don't go in," she told them, almost smiling. "I've got help."

 _I've got him._

In her mind, she stared through the other girl's eyes, and allowed herself a small grin when the familiar mop of black hair welcomed her view.

"It's been a while, hasn't it…"

The boy stared at her in confusion, eyes ever blue and bright. Despite her wish, Misaki felt her heart do a little jump inside. She coughed and unconsciously fixed herself straight to look at him again. This time somber and serious.

"Touma-kun."

* * *

It all happened so fast. One moment the girl was just standing there, seemingly trapped in whatever-the-fuck that thing is, and the next moment horns and some ribbons-like whips have started protruding out from the mass of compressed powers. Accelerator barely managed to dock before they shot forward and took out a chunk of debris with them.

Mikoto's hair was swept back and her fingers were turning sharper, morphing into claws. There was nothing left to recognize her besides a wallowing scream that was ripped out of her throat before the energy shut her off again.

"At 53% of this her mind would be distorted into that of something from a different dimension, while at 100% her mind and body would be destroyed as they exceed their limits," Kihara explained breezily, as if he was looking through a simple testing experiment and not some destructive catastrophe.

"I knew what that Imagine Breaker and the Level 5 Gemstone acting as a stimulus could do to this transformation, but to have _you_ here, on the other hand…"

And at this he grinned (the sick, twisted bastard, the things Accelerator would do to bash his face _in_ ), before inclining his head and simply pressing a button on the remote – something Accelerator realized with dread that he's probably used it to infest the Misaka Network and took control over the Railgun's frail state of mind.

"The top Level 5 and the on-going Level 6?" Kihara said through his grin, before disappearing behind the falling rubbles.

"One can only hope for so much, don't you think?"

"Come back here you rotten piece of shit," Accelerator growled, and tore through the debris with a vector enhanced jump. "I'll fucking tear you out from limb to limb."

It was a mindless threat then, because before he could chance a run for the mad scientist, the Railgun, no, creature, _creature_ let out anther hallowing scream again, and shot its claws forward to come straight at him.

Accelerator did a quick math, and quickly dissolved the charges with his powers, cursing in a long, steady stream.

"Wake the fuck up, you stupid brat!"

He yelled, to no avail. And it didn't just stop there. For whatever reasons, the thing seemed to bear conscious thoughts and have managed to make use of everything around them. It tore the metal rails out from the concrete walls, and flung them at him, aim wild and angry. When that didn't work, it sucked those back up with magnet and compressed it into large chunks of metal balls to throw. Not to mention the electric charges shooting here and there for added effect. Accelerator would have been totally impressed if he wasn't so busy trying not to get smashed in the face.

It could not go on like this forever, he thought with disdain, and took a vector enhanced leap back to create some distance between them. There had to be a loophole somewhere, it's happened before and it's been stopped before. He just had to figure out _how –_

Accelerator probably would have missed the call had his cell phone not been in his pants' pocket, constantly vibrating like its life depended on it. Taking a duck behind a concrete pole, the monster still kind of bristling its head out behind him, he lingeringly whipped it out, and stared at the stranger's number on the screen in utter disbelief.

"What the fuck is this?!"

He barked into the speaker, and almost took a reel back when the other line finally talked.

"I take that you're a little occupied right now, huh?"

Kamijou Touma either had the best, or worst timing ever, and Accelerator didn't know whether to put this time into which case.

"Is she there?" the other guy asked calmly, and Accelerator thought _the worst fucking timing ever_ , before stifling a rather colorful insult back into his throat.

"Depends on your definition of 'she'. What the fuck's that black mass covering the brat?"

"No idea. Tell me what she looks like right now."

This had to be some kind of messed up prank, but Accelerator paddled through the ridiculous request nonetheless.

"Horns, some kind of whips around her, claw-like hands and feet, and fuck – I think that's a fucking _halo_ on her head. What kind of a sick joke is this?!"

"Oh," the guy said, seemingly deflated, "That's not good. That's very bad, actually."

"What?"

"That's her second transformation, and if she gets past that…"

"She'll turn into an actual alien, right?" Accelerator muttered, in false hope.

"I wish," Touma snorted on the other line. "But no, she'll die, Accelerator."

That would definitely be very, very bad. Accelerator sobered up immediately.

"How long does it take before you get your ass here?" he asked – the ever important question.

"I'm kind of having my hands full right now with something too, actually," the other guy chuckled nervously, and Accelerator removed the cell phone from his ear to stare at the device in disbelief.

"The Railun is on the brink of killing herself. And what the _fuck_ did you just say to that?" he said, bristling.

"You're not the only one getting caught up in a catastrophic mess, bastard."

The guy said seriously, and as if on cue, a loud blast exploded through the line loud enough to make Accelerator lean away from the speaker. Index' familiar screaming of Touma's name could be heard from a distance.

"Magic?" he sighed.

"Magic," the Level 0 somberly agreed. "These people are freaky, man. Even for _my_ standard!"

"...You don't fucking say."

"Look, I'll try to deal with this fast and come there as soon as I can. But if she's transforming that quickly, you'll have to figure out something to stop her first yourself. Your reflecting ability is a lot more useful than my arm back then though, in my opinion."

"Fine, how did you do it last time, then?"

There was a short pause on the other end. "Uhh, I wasn't sure what happened much, actually. There were dragons, and I think kinda bumped her head later when I removed the mass. Got my right arm ripped off though, that was a scary moment."

"Got your _what_ now?!"

There was a crash, and then a grunt as something hard made impact with a fist.

"Oh it grew back later don't worry," the guy said easily, and Accelerator thought murder. "Listen, the key is not the thing itself, but it's Misaka. Tear through its coat, reach for her mind, wake her up. It frays away if it doesn't have control over her conscious."

"Easier said than done, dumbass."

"Stop calling me names, dammit!" Touma shouted, obviously at a loss of breath, before sighing. "Look, I know you're not exactly into this whole saving thing, and you and Misaka obviously have some personal grudges goin' on…"

"Don't even fucking _go_ there, you assh…"

"But she needs help," he plowed on, completely unperturbed. "It's nothing heroic or worth praising over. You're just doing something you think is right."

Another wail ripped through the loud crumbles, and Accelerator didn't even try to hide anymore when a claw shot out and cracked the concrete he was standing behind apart. He turned to finally look at it through the layer of dust surrounding them.

Misaka Mikoto was already gone from its surface, with only the shell of her fears and sorrows manifested left standing. And it was crying for blood.

"So do all of us a favor, One," Touma said on the other end of the line. And if there was a trace of a grin in his voice Accelerator refused to acknowledge it.

"And try to save the both of you."

* * *

"How did it go?"

Uiharu asked uneasily, watching as the blonde slumped down next to them.

"He's…occupied. But I've explained the whole thing to him already and he said he'd try to reach Accelerator and show the guy how to stop her," Misaki sighed. "So I guess we can only pray for the best right now."

"Or prepare for the worst."

The older Misaka clone snorted, nursing her still stinging head. Her other two Sisters were also looking worse for wear, while the rest of the girls were just exhausted, but all were sitting on edge. The thunderous lightning still hasn't creased, but at least the rubbles have stopped falling.

"Do you think they'll make it?"

She wasn't meant to ask, but the words slipped out before Saten could realize. The ravenhead could only wince awkwardly before turning away.

"I don't know about Onee-sama," Worst shrugged at the girl. "But I know Accel. He's a foul idiot, but he knows his stuff. He'll come back."

In her arms, Last Order whimpered, and curled herself closer against her. Worst stroked the girl by the hair, and tried not to sway away at the stinging headaches. If there were one thing she could do best, it would definitely have to be holding themselves together. Not just for herself. But their home. _His_ home.

"Both of them will."

* * *

It's too dark.

Her vision is blank and useless. Mikoto could only hopelessly wish it were the same case with her ears. A voice, deep and malicious, was closing tight around her, saying, whispering, asking. Telling her the deepest and darkest moments within. Unraveling her whole with every word. The bite of its power a chilling coat against her naked skin.

 _It's futile to resist._

If there was a time to die, it has to be now. This sick, suffocating, wretched whole that weighed upon her, sucking the air out of her lungs and draining her tears dry. The pain has long turned to the point of numbing, and by then she could only curl against herself and plead for everything to go away. Doesn't even want, and can't even afford to even feel. It's hell within hell.

 _I'll destroy it whole._

* * *

"Just try and save the both of you."

 _Fucking asshole_. Accelerator thought with spite, swiping away another electric charge. Who the fuck did he even think he is – telling him to go save the fucking brat by himself? _Arrogant, troublesome, waste of fucking brain cel –_

The creature howled as another of its arm was cut off. Accelerator can't even see the Railgun in that mass anymore, now it was just an alien mixture of claws and electricity with a body and a temper that could give his old psychotic killer self a run for his money.

Accelerator would have been impressed, had he not been so busy fending off strikes after strikes while figuring out how to break a crack in that armor. Screaming and calling it with creative, foul names had been less than effective, and him defending its attacks had only managed to piss it off further (which was kind of ironic, if he were to entertain himself, usually it would be him that was always the impatient one).

"You're being controlled, you fucking dumbass. Wake yourself up!"

The only reply he got was a metal rail to the face, which he angrily deflected back. Accelerator gritted his teeth.

Fine.

Using the crutch as a stepping stone, Accelerator jumped up, tore through the debris, and swung a well-aimed vector punch at the creature. It's sent reeling back at the sudden hit, and that was when he saw it, the tiny crumbles that frayed away at the edges of its head, revealing thin strands of brown hair.

 _Found you._

* * *

The plan was perfect, complete, full-proof – the fact that the Railgun was mentally unstable and suffering from her last transformation was only an added bonus.

What Kihara Gensei did not see coming, was the Strongest of the Level 5 jumping in and interfering with it.

It's as bad as when Kamijou Touma and the Sogiita Gunha came to the rescue – their powers conveniently serving as a wall that restrained her growth. But it's somehow more different this time. Accelerator and his vector control was doing wonders to the growing creature, not just holding its destructive charges back but also skimming near at its core conscious. He was coming close enough to reach and save Misaka Mikoto.

The scientist refrained from breaking the remote in his hand in half, bristling. He did not wait for another chance like this only to have it destroyed again by some rebellious, careless _scum_. Stepping back to shield himself under the dark shadow – standing a floor above where the other two Level 5 were and safely hidden in the security camera room, he moved his fingers deftly, pressing on the red button of the remote.

A scream was ripped out from where they were sitting. The girls all quickly turned around to see the older of the Misaka clone slumping forward and holding her head, crying frantically. The little girl in her lap writhed and uncurled herself, tears in her wide brown eyes and her hair stuck to her sides wet with sweat.

"It's the virus," Misaki shouted to them, two fingers on the groaning 10032's forehead. "It's spreading wider!"

"Call the ambulance!" Saten cried, running towards the other two girls and holding them steady.

"No need for that."

Kuroko said grimly, before bending down and picking up Last Order by the arm, who whimpered at the movement.

"Just…," Kuroko sighed, before tearing her gaze away from the crumbling building. Uiharu stared at the teleporter in shock.

"Keep an eye on her."

The Level 4 didn't even wait for a reply, just turned around and disappeared into thin air, the little girl slumped against her in exhaustion and pain.

"Shirai-san," Uiharu whispered, eyes stinging. But she had no time to ache as another painful cry erupted from the ground.

"Hang in there, please."

Saten muttered, holding the golden-eyed girl by the hand. "She'll be back soon and she'll take you to the hos…"

"No," groaned Worst, gripping the other girl's hand tight. "N…o, I have to be here…"

"…I have to stay…for…"

But it was all that came out of her mouth, before the older clone suddenly exhaled and slumped forward, now completely unconscious. Saten caught the girl before she could hit the ground, and looked up in wonder at the blonde kneeling next to them. The Level 5 had managed to approach them without her even noticing, two fingers lingeringly placed on Worst' left temple.

"She's asleep for now," the blonde sighed. "But that virus is still tearing into their minds. I'm going to try and see what I can do to push it out. But for now, all we can do is wait."

Saten stared at the girl, before nodding softly. Over her shoulders, she caught Uiharu stroking an unconscious 10032, the clone's body still trembling at the harsh mental assault.

Misaki exhaled, before dropping down on her knees and slumped back on the rocks behind them. As much as she hated it, going through minds after minds could take a tool as hard as any physical exercise can. Her head ached and her hands were scraped, stinging red, the pretty white lacey gloves long abandoned.

 _But no time to rest_ , she told herself, and crouched up to try and reach for Misaka Worst again, digging through another's state of mind.

 _Please_ , she thought in despair, as blood and black electricity filled her vision again.

 _Let it be over soon._

* * *

Accelerator barely managed to stifle another curse as he glued himself into the ground, a baring force suddenly shaking the ground awake again as the creature cried out. At the side of its temple where there was just a few strands of brown hair just seconds ago was now being covered back with its black crumbles of power again. It's crouching now, bent forward as if a massive wave of pain just flooded over it, and Accelerator gritted his teeth.

 _Sick fucker's watching_ , he thought in fury, swiping his head around to look for the source although to no avail. The walls around them have started falling down again. He narrowly avoided a giant rock that shot down and broke open right from behind.

It's grating and frustrating. Whatever that was swallowing the Railgun was impossible to break through, even with his AIM shield. His knuckles thrummed painfully from where he used to punch the thing. Accelerator didn't need to look to know it was probably bleeding and torn at the skin, obvious static burned. He figured he should be aggravated at the physical pain, but there was no time for that.

His head ached even worse than before now, the virus that was eating at the Misaka Network was affecting them whole. No, he couldn't tear through it just from physical attacks, the Network was useless now, there was only one way to reach her mind at this rate, and Accelerator knew it was going to break them both.

Gritting his teeth, he backed up and scratched at his already dead choker to rip it off from his aching neck. Accelerator dropped his cane, and resigned himself to the desperation, the blood and the pain that engulfed his whole. His back burned from the searing hot pain that shot up his spine, and at the corners of his eyes, two white wings were slowly protruding out.

In front of him, the Railgun screamed as the creature held out a black sphere of energy in its claw. Accelerator growled, and felt his whole body shudder at the newly awaken powers.

Time to fight fire with fire.

* * *

It hurts. It hurts so much. And it's every _bloody_ where.

Every inch of skin on her felt like it was on fire. Her knuckles bled and split open, her hair frizzy and charred. She doesn't even understand what's brought her to this point anymore, where her eye sockets felt so dry they were burning into her eyeballs, her mouth thick and stuffed like cotton and her head rang like just _that_ close to exploding itself up.

The screams and cries were threatening to burst her ear drums and Mikoto curled herself even tighter in the dark shadows, feeling alien against her own naked, parched skin. Pleading desperately for everything to die away. Hoping helplessly for a death to come fast and swallow her sick, maddening self whole.

"You fucking idiot."

She barely managed to look up from her knees before she was suddenly thrown against a wall, her back slamming against solid ground hard enough to bite at her spine. Mikoto coughed and looked up in confusion, and choked on her own breath at the crazy, wild red eyes that drilled into hers.

"…Accel…"

"Shut your fucking mouth."

Accelerator roared, digging his nails even harder into the girl's stinging skin. On the outside, he was tackling the creature and holding it down with his stronger vector control, their already connected minds making an easy access for him to enter the other's state of mind.

His back scorched where the wings were fluttering and his head is filled with the black, tainted powers twisting in the girl's head. He took a quick runover of the girl in front of him, and suddenly felt sick to his stomach at the scratched, scarred naked skin she was trembling in, the creature having managed to rip her off of her everything and leaving only the broken shell of the girl left. He slowly creased his hard grip at her limp arms.

"You have some balls, you know that," he said instead, muttering harshly. "Getting me to this stage. I'm gonna seriously make you pay once this shit is over."

The girl blinked up at him, half her face still covered by the crumbling black mass. She shook her head in disdain.

"No point in that, Accelerator and you know it," she said, and her voice was rough and chalked, like nail on a wooden broad.

"There's only one way to stop me now."

He knew what she meant right away, and the fact was enough to make him take a reel back, jolting his hands away from her arms as if burned.

"I won't do that. Not again." He told her. It's true then when he held the little brat and tried to force air back into her lungs, and it's still the truth now. And it would stay that way, as long as he lived.

But for once, the girl didn't _get_ it. The brown hues of her eyes have already darkened in a seamless black pits by then.

"I'm _dying_. It's destroying me whole, can't you see?!" she snapped angrily, spreading out her arms as if to make a point. Her skin was red and mauled in countless scratches and slices, black crumbles sticking to it like a barnacle. He's seen some serious gory horror that could leave countless men traumatized for life but this, this sight right here of the girl, dear _fuck_ – Accelerator refused to trail his eyes downwards any further.

"I'm as good as gone…"

She whispered. And just like that, he was pushed out of their minds.

* * *

Mikoto crumbled back into the ground as soon as the pale figure was whisked away from her field of sight. There was another bile rising in her stomach again, and she scrambled uselessly around for something to hold on to before the harsh truth got slammed back into her thoughts. She bent forward, and heaved and retched in abject misery – a shrieking, haunting voice taunting in the distance.

 _Please. Please let it end._

Her mind cried helplessly, only for the darkness to hear. It's degrading and torturous, that she can't even _die_ in her own mind and body. Somehow trapped between inception and reality. There were patches of skin that were scalding away at her flesh, especially at where they've touched. The horrid shame and disgust twisted in her stomach was enough to clog at her throat and bleed at her eyes – letting someone see her so unraveled, so _exposed_ ate away at her insides. And it's a cruel, biting chill against her skin. She wanted to curl back into herself and rot away. She wanted to spread her mind wide open and let him come back again and finish off what they started. It didn't even matter who it will be this time. She just wanted to leave this hell and never rise again.

Death will be a soothing blessing, by now.

* * *

The growl that welled up from the creature was enough to make his eardrums quiver, and Accelerator immediately jumped off and took a few leaps back, both mentally and physically. His mind automatically sucked itself back from the latter and he was thinking in his own head again.

Not by much, and not for long, either. He knew exactly where this was going, and if he can't find a way to jump back into the Railgun's corrupted head and shake the stupid wench awake soon Academy City would very well end up with two very murderous, very crazy Level 5's at their hands.

His palms burned at where their skin made contact. His mind was a jumbled, incoherent mess, he's just gripping into tiny shreds of consciousness by now – the unavoidable price of the 'Awaken'. It wouldn't be long until he lost it, too.

" _I'm as good as gone…"_

Everything in Accelerator tightened in rejection. Damnit, no. That was not happening. He's spent so long killing and regretting and loathing himself, it can't just go around and around like this forever. For once in his life, he was given a chance, and for once he was going to bust his ass off to keep it.

The Railgun was in there – under that maddening, pungent pile of alien being twisted with haphazard, aimless wants and needs. And he would drag her out of there even if it's the last thing he'd do, kicking and screaming when it went down because they were them and there's no peace or harmony between that, just endless fights and a sick, maddening circle of loathe and self-hate. It's a bloodbath in a bloodbath. He would soak it dry taking her with him this time. Not that pathetic, shivering doll hidden under that coat – but the girl who gave him acceptance and the gratitude and everything that he would spend the rest of his life trying to pay it back.

The creature before them howled and whipped out its claws again. The black mass of energy flailed in the air and compressed itself into another ball above its palm. Accelerator stayed and let the wings on his back harden, before charging forward again – snapping his mind bare and ready.

* * *

She didn't expect any more visitors, so when a loud crash exploded in her ears and she whipped up to look, the last thing Mikoto saw was a blur of white before she was tackled onto the ground again.

"…Wh…at?" she coughed violently at the surprise assault, and widened her eyes once the blurring face finally morphed into view – looming right above her.

"I should just fucking end you for this, you know."

Accelerator spat angrily, blowing a falling white strand out of his vision. Mikoto was a speechless, shocked figure under him. He's sitting on her now, straddling her immobile – knees digging firmly into her arms and hands planting at the ground on either side of her face. The angle and position was extreme, but none of them was paying attention to that right now. Mikoto's fists curled against the cold floor.

"Go ahead then," she breathed harshly. "Do it. Anything's better than what I have right now."

"So that's it? Some sick psycho fucks with your head and you're just gonna give up already?"

Mikoto glared up at him, her head flaming up at the contact of consciousness. "Yes! Look around you, does any of this deem salvageable to you – "

"– It's tearing through me from the inside. And it won't stop. Not until _I_ do."

The guy frowned, staring down at the girl. The familiar stubborn, hardened spark in her eyes then looked all kinds of jagged and wrong with the whites darkened and the brown a shade morphing closer to black. Accelerator swallowed back a sore bile in his throat. Misaka Mikoto's made up her mind. They've hit the dead end. She wanted to die, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

So this was how it ended. They've taken turns destroying each other over and over again, and this was where they stopped at. Struggling against each other, forever encaged in the darkness that haunted their whole beings.

"Why?" he croaked, voice rough and grated. "Why's that, huh? How can you just go and give away every bit of yourself like that and wind up wanting to kill yourself in the end? For other people? Because you feel guilty of their suffering?"

 _Because you feel guilty of_ mine _?_

The girl didn't respond, and the answer sank down heavily on both of them.

"You'd die for all of us?"

"Yes," she said simply, unwilling to think about which question she's replying to, or perhaps if she meant both all at once.

"Bullshit."

She blinked at him, and flinched when the hands on either side of her temples slammed down hard at the ground, the impact made her head sting.

"That's a fuck load of bullshit," Accelerator spat, and tethered above her. "You're deluding yourself. Everyone has their problems, and you can't expect to shoulder it all and rot on your own. Forget whatever the fuck they taught you your whole life. Titles are just titles. Just because you can do this or that better than them doesn't mean you have to bend over backwards and serve like some kind of role model. You wanna know why you're actually dying? Because all you've been doing is asking for lighter burdens instead of boarder shoulders."

The girl looked up at him – eyes wide and opened. Accelerator didn't even know what he was doing anymore, besides the sudden, baring realization at the position they were in (he really did _not_ think this through when he slammed himself into the thing). The heat of her bare skin is searing hot through the rough layer of his jeans, there's freckles of those black rubbles all over her skin, patching these parts here and there but still way too little to be considered even remotely decent. He's kind of petrified to look down anywhere lower than her neck, so he stuck stubbornly to her face instead. The words pouring out of his mouth on their own. His heart thumping loud against his ribcage. His blood running hot and rapid in his veins.

But for whatever its worth, it was working. The hands under his knees have slowly unclenched themselves, and she was looking at him like that same night when she knocked at his door at 5 in the morning and admitted her mistakes to finally, _finally_ ask for help.

"Look, I know it's exhausting. It burns at your insides and makes you feel dead and done for. I _get_ it," he continued then, suddenly fueled. "But you have people out there, alright. People you can trust, rely on. And they're waiting for you to return just right out there – "

"So get this through your thick ass skull and do all of us a favor, brat. Snap the _hell_ out of this _._ "

 _And come back._

It took a few quiet, endless moments. But then the girl blinked, stared up at him, before nodding softly. A black piece of crumble fell away from her face, and he can finally see brown, steady irises again. He quickly eased off her, silently offering a hand when she slowly pushed herself up. Mikoto blinked up at him, before that familiar tightness came back to her eyes. Real and alive and _her_ again. Accelerator allowed himself a smirk at the girl, just this once.

She took his hand, and everything changed in an instant.

* * *

The screaming suddenly faltered, and Uiharu whipped her head back right away to look at the building again.

"Guys, is…is that what I think it is?"

Saten muttered, staring in shocking wonder as the lightning finally creased from the sky and the waving black atoms around them dimly flickered out.

Misaki, who was slumping on the ground in exhaustion, Worst and 10032 long gone – now lying in the hospital after she's managed to subdue the virus thanks to the remote she had with her, looked up and immediately leaned her head back to stare at the night skies, which was finally empty of lightning and thunder. Relief naturally coursed through all of them like a rush of adrenaline.

"…They've made it."

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Kuroko muttered, smirking lightly at them, holding her phone in one hand, the Judgement armband holding up proudly on the left sleeve of her shirt.

"Time to finally do what we're here for."

* * *

Mikoto's hands were still trembling, bangs sticking to wet forehead but her face was grimly set. Accelerator felt the black rubbles around them quiver and fade. He took a long careful look at the girl, which she replied with one of her own, and gave her a little nod, smirking a little, before whisking his mind away. Their words and agreements long met.

The air was strangely thick and silent when he returned back into his body. And Accelerator wasted no time in stepping back and away from the creature – which was now tethering and howling, crouching over itself, its claws pawing and scratching at the ground – looking oddly like a kid throwing a tantrum.

Accelerator sucked in a breath, his wings discarded and disintegrated into thin air after he's finally gained back control over his mind. He's done his part, grand speech and moral support and a few physical injuries here and there (which fucking burned holy _fuck_ ), and now it was up to the Railgun. She'll have to crack its shell apart from the inside on her own, and then he can take care of the rest.

 _You can't get rid of me._

 _I'm a part of you._

 _Not for long,_ Mikoto gritted her teeth, and tore away at the atoms that try to crawl up her skin. They crumbled away under her fingers, and she plows on – face, arms, neck, stomach, legs…at every inch of skin she could reach; tried to gather her banging head into one solid piece, and fumbling through the darkness for a dent in the shadows. A spark of electricity flared up from a finger, and Mikoto smirked in victory, gripped at the darkness, and ripped it away. This time letting the voice' hallowing scream soak into her mind.

* * *

Kihara Gensei watched the creature tear itself open, and finally lost it.

It can't be. It can't be. Not again. Never again.

It didn't matter how much he repeated the chant in his head, the cameras' screens were still displaying the awful, horrifying truth. The – the thing was destroying itself, taking the falling building with it. The black crumbles were actually fraying away, and he could see inches of pale skin and chestnut hair under it already – the deftly fingers moving fast to peel at its skin.

All those years of studying, researching, _killing_ were not going to be for naught, and he will make sure of it. Not this time then another and another and another, because he's still a Kihara. And if there was one thing he knew about the Kihara's, it was that he wouldn't be one without planning or back-ups.

Cracking the remote open, he flipped the cap off and reached inside for a tiny button – his back-up, in case when every other methods didn't pull off. And it was time to put it to use. He looked up to stare at the screen for one last time, before grinding his finger on the tiny button again – and turned around to leave. Kihara's made a big mistake letting Accelerator walk out of the Level 6 intact, but not this time.

If Misaka Mikoto wanted to leave like that too, then she would leave bringing this whole place down with her.

* * *

It was working. It was working so well. She was halfway out of the shell already when that horrible buzzing came out of nowhere and burst back into her head.

"Brat? Oi, what's u..?"

"Don't," she yelled through the debris, fear creeping back on the base of her throat. "Don't come any closer!"

Accelerator faltered on his steps. He frowned, watched as the girl's eyes flickered back and forward from brown to black. It was so confusing and sudden, and he took a double take around them in immediate alarm.

 _Fucking Kihara_. He thought in disdain, but they have no time for that now. The black crumbling pieces where the girl has managed to tear away have started to patch themselves together again, promptly covering her up. Accelerator refused to panic, but the bile was rising up in his throat again and he realized with a sinking feeling that the choker was already dead along with half of his brains and calculating abilities.

"Wait…"

Cried Mikoto as the black started to creep over the whites of her eyes again. Accelerator made to step forward, but a vice whipped out from her torso again and slammed down just an inch on his right, cracking the rock he was standing on in half.

Shit. Shit _. Shit._

Accelerator swore to himself, making a duck out of the claw's way. The black atoms that disintegrated just moments ago were starting to reform again, and he looked on with dread at the sudden realization of what's about to come. It was self-destruct. And it was going to take down everything with her in the final bang.

Either he needed to get some fucking batteries, or the Railgun could somehow manage to wrench back some control, or they were all going to be dead. Soon.

"'Don't be so pessimistic, Accel-chan' says MISAKA as MISAKA makes an attempt to cheer Accelerator!'"

The addressed guy almost choked on his breath, and immediately whipped around to look for the source of the voice.

"Last Order?" he whispered, and felt the air being sucked back into his lungs, just a little bit.

"Who else,"

A chuckle thrummed in his mind, and Accelerator tried very hard not to release a huge sigh of relief. Maybe Worst and her stupid, sarcastic cackles weren't _that_ bad, after all. Just a bit.

"'Yep, we're here' MISAKA says happily, 'The virus is gone, and we got a small upgrade for the Network!'"

"We're all here," Worst added seriously, and Accelerator doesn't need to ask to realize who 'we' were – the other SISTERS' presence has managed to quickly register in his mind.

"…How's this possible?" he asked in actual wonder, because huh, last time he saw the two girls they were writhing and crawling on the ground in pain, which was another horror to never relive again as far as he was concerned.

Unbeknownst to Accelerator, just a few feet away from the building was a bunch of girls hurdling together – with Misaki Shokuhou in the middle and Misaka Worst, Last Order back on either side of her (thanks to Kuroko), her trusted remote in her hands and her fingers skimming their temples.

"Courtesy of the Mental Out," Worst said. "But it's not gonna last long. Look, use our Network right now and do the math."

"'We're here with you, Accelerator' says MISAKA encouragingly'"

"'10032 reporting in, MISAKA says'" another voice croaked in, a little rough and thick but familiar nonetheless. "'I'm ready.'"

"'10039 here' agrees MISAKA, 'So am I'"

"'10046'…"

"ANTI Skill is in position. Ready for your order, Captain."

"On my command," shouted Yomikawa from afar. "No firings until I say so."

The number went on for a while, and Accelerator thought he was going to collapse. If there was a reason to live for, this is it. Of home and familiarity. Of hope and connection. His brains mushed, but he could feel them flowing back in already – his strength and abilities running through maps and patterns like they were never gone. His whole body suddenly felt weightless, and he took a second to let it all sink in – feeling the vectors coursing through the air, light and heady, ready to move at the smallest flick of his wrist. And for once in his life Accelerator can't bring himself to hate the overwhelming presence of so many people around.

A hallowing scream ripped through the air, and he opened his eyes to stare straight at the creature again. It has managed to patch itself up as much as it could, but the Railgun was not going down without a fight either. It held a claw out, a little shakily at the latter's internal struggle, forming atoms on it. He caught the girl's eyes again through the falling debris, which was blending black into their sockets. Misaka Mikoto reached out a hand, and screamed his name.

" _Please,"_

She cried, just in time the black mass of ball on her other hand exploded, and Accelerator threw caution to the wind and shot himself forward.

(TBC)

* * *

 **A/N : So first of all, I am so sorry for the delay. This was supposed to be uploaded on Monday but apparently my laptop suddenly decided to be an absolute prick and managed to delete half of what I wrote so yeah, I had to start over. If any of you still want to kill me please go right ahead, I'll die over going to classes any day man.**

 **On the other hand, yeeeeesss guys, we're coming close. The next chap will unfortunately be our last. Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews, favorites and following - really keep me going, honestly.**

 **On another hand, because I'm Asian and red envelope holiday is in ma blood, happy Lunar New Year people /says as I type this out at 4AM/**


	11. Chapter 10

.

 **A/N: Here it is, people! Here. It. _Is_. My first actual completed story! It's 5.30 in the morning, I just finished chowing down a bowl of Cheerios, my eyeballs are burning into their sockets but damn do I feel good, like an actual adult, with like actual success. It's gonna die out soon once I start doing my gigantic pile of HW but for now, _hell_ to the bloody _yes!_**

 **A huge, huge thanks to _ilovefreakininfos_ for beta reading this. And of course to my awesome readers. Thank you so much for reading, following, adding favorites and leaving reviews. Honestly when I first started this I really thought it was going to flop soon but all your support has really kept me going. I'd crawl over the screen and hug each and every one of you if I could, although I don't think anyone will actually like a real life Sadako soooo...Internet hive-five, guys! /smacks hand to screen/**

 **I'll definitely be back to edit everything later because I'm paranoid but for now, enjoy!**

* * *

 _She takes his hand, and everything changes in an instant._

* * *

 **Chapter 10:**

Their strikes are vicious and lethal – charging straight to each other before jumping back and going in again. Meeting each other blow after blow. After the explosion, the creature has managed to sweep the whole building clean – now it's just a pile of concrete and rocks under them. The sky falls in rubbles and the ground shakes. The clang of their forces is thundering in the air.

His mind whirls at the constant chatter of calculations. Accelerator lands himself on a pile of rocks, spits out blood before wiping at his mouth with a hand in disdain, glaring all the way through.

"'I can't reach her' MISAKA says in worry," Last Order's voice thrums in his mind. He's always hated that tone of hers, no child her age should ever sound that wary and scared.

"Stop wallowing so bad and let me think straight first dammit,"

He thinks back instead, which earns him a huff from the little girl, which he deftly ignores. The creature's stopped howling moments ago, but the shimmering, dark force around it never stops drumming like a hungry beast, just waiting to grab at its bait, whips and claws protruding high and ready. The air is heavy and thick under the crackling pressure.

"Got any idea?" Worst comments dryly.

Sort of. But Yoshikawa would definitely have his head after all of this. If he were still actually breathing by then though.

"Where's everyone?" he asks instead, flexing out the stiff muscles in his joints.

"'Evacuated and hidden away. No civilian insight in about ten-mile radius' MISAKA says as she checks their surroundings," 10032 adds in helpfully.

"…It's not gonna be that bad, right?" Worst mutters.

" – _Right?"_

He wishes he could reply. But Accelerator's seen this before, it's not fighting him anymore because it's preparing for something else, something horrid and much, much worse than just deflecting his attacks. The last explosion was only the warm-up, and if what he witnessed in the Railgun's nightmares was right, then that alter-ego of hers is definitely steaming up an all-kill shot for the whole Academy City to bring it down once and for all.

But he has his vector control. He has it in his hands this time, the SISTERS' Network running the calculations in his brain wired and precise. Accelerator's only been managing to deflect explosions before, but to compress them into a small amount of space and burst them off only in that range is definitely a first. It was just his luck that the explosion this time would be deleterious and catastrophic enough to take down _a whole damn city_.

 _Looks like it is a one-way road after all,_ Accelerator almost chuckles to himself. Misaka Mikoto is inside that thing, probably stuck to skin and bones with it already for all he knows. No amount of pep-talks or snarling words can shake her awake anymore. The wretched brat's finally succumbed to her devils, and she's right after all. There's only one way to save her by then, and it's going to kill him, too.

It's fitting, really. If there was one way to die without regrets, this has to be it – under the hands of the one whose sorrows and despair he's given to. The one that's done the same to him. They've been running circles around each other, and he's finally got the chance to tie back the knot and end it once and for all.

The thunder above them roars, and shoots down a burst of black lightning that tears the skies in half. It comes down and envelopes them in an almost hellish, fiery light. The garish blur clears, and Accelerator looks up just in time to see the creature lightly drops down to his eye level – a shimmering, mobile black sphere in its claw.

This is it. Their last fight, no matter what consequences. His heart feels like it was going to ricochet out of his ribcage and his blood is a hot liquid stream burning through his veins. His whole body feels jubilant, and he maps them out, counts every movement, and ingrains them into memory. Just for the last time.

"'Accelerator…?' MISAKA asks,"

In his head, Last Order whispers, voice quivering as much as her eyes were, he was sure. Accelerator's never been one for feelings or pretty words, but right then, as the creature howls and shoots forward, he whispers back the only thing that he's always wanted to tell the girl, before charging straight ahead. Her wallowing scream the only sound he's heard before the black energy swallows him whole.

* * *

"'No…Wait' MISAKA cries."

"Last Order, no,"

Worst whispers, reaching over to the girl to hold the latter close. She wasn't meant to listen, but their minds were closely connected, and hearing Accelerator baring his heart out before leaving cuts her as deep as any broken arms can. The guy must know what he was doing, and she just wishes he could manage to pull it off and come out alive. For all of them.

"Captain? Permission to shoot?"

One of the guys asks uneasily, and Yomikawa frowns. She turns to see the two other girls of their household holding onto each other, and feels her hands curl back into fists on their accord.

"No, not yet," she mutters, and fixes back her ballistic vest. "We're going to stand by."

The girls can only nod in agreement, looking on with worry. Above them, thunder rips the black skies open as lightning shoots down. Last Order's cries a haunting sound at the back of their thoughts, and the rest of the SISTER clones can only watch, in great curiosity, as a wave of emptiness washes over their whole.

* * *

Darkness is something she's used to. Darkness is where she holds herself and lets her tears fall. And if in the darkness is how she would go, then Mikoto is fine with that, too.

But her mind, her heart, her whole _being_ hurts to think about everyone else. This isn't what she would imagine when she leaves them – maybe a hug, an apology, just something for a farewell, and how much she just wants them to _know._

But it's over now. The corner she's in is dark and blinding. Her eyes are useless, as much as the rest of her is. Mikoto can't see, but the red, angry sprinkles of scarred, burned scabs on her skin are a chilling reminder. She's dying. She's dead. It's somewhere between that. And the only thing she can do by then is to wait out and let it take her whole.

Yet what Mikoto does not see coming then, was a burst of a light, and suddenly more lights, bright and vibrant and alive, ripping through the shadow and raining down her whole. Scalding the black crumbles away at every inch of skin they can reach. She looks up just in time to see a familiar figure that's slowly sweeping into view.

"You're really more trouble than you're worth, brat."

Accelerator says, and leans over to plant his hands on the wall behind her, gripping at the surface – the dark power crippling away under his fingers. Mikoto could only look on in utter disbelief, her trembling, exposed skin half-forgotten as she watches him tear its insides apart.

"You…You can't do that…"

It was only then that she finally notices the bleeding, gaping hole just right under his left collarbone, his jacket torn at the spot exposing burned scabs and dark blood damping through the material. Flickering black crumbles hover above them as screams start breaking out.

"…Oh God," she whispers, and feels it at the tips of her fingers then, the warm, slimy goo that starts coating at her hands. The creature's boiling rage raining down on them whole.

"St…Stop,"

She rasps, and reaches out to grip at his wrist. His skin cool against the searing heat of her black palms.

"Please. Just…Just get out of here. Leave..."

But it was all that came out of her mouth, before he rips his wrist off her grip. Snarling.

"Shut it," he growls lowly. "You've made your choice. Now it's my turn."

"By killing yourself?!" she shouts, eyes blurring. "You're doing more harm than good. Look at what that thing's doing to you. And I can't do anything anymore, it's taken over my body for good."

 _There's nothing left to save_ , is what's implied. But he hasn't come all this way to listen to that.

"What I've said before hasn't changed," he says. "Yeah, it sucks hating yourself and what you've become. It sucks a lot. But you have to suffer through it. That's the only way you can grow, not stepping down and backing away like this."

He turns to her then, eyes oddly deep and dark in a shade of maroon under the shadows surrounding them, and raises his hand. Mikoto almost flinches back when he hovers close, but can only stare on as he moves to land his knuckles on her forehead.

"So this is the last time, brat. I'm not gonna say thank you, and I'm sure as hell not expecting you to do the same…"

"– but you've done more than enough for me. So hear this because no chance in hell am I ever gonna fucking say it again –"

He pushes forward, and a shattering force shoots out of his hand and sweeping back her hair – wiping whatever left of its power lingering on her skin away. Mikoto feels the air get knocked straight out of her lungs, her body buckling back and snapping her mind close at the surprised assault. It's fast and overwhelming, and she feels it run down her skin and peel the other creature away inch by inch, its hallowing scream ripping out of her mind. The darkness scrunches away as bright lights start pouring in, blinding at her eyes.

But it's all she can see before her knees finally give out. She slumps forward, and just faintly feels the simmering pressure of arms closing in around her frame, gently lowering her down. Warm breathing fanning down her face and pale strands of hair softly fluttering at the corners of her closing eyes.

 _I'm sorry, too._

It's all she can hear, before her mind slowly shuts out.

* * *

Accelerator can tell he's in the hospital before he even opens his eyes. The bed he's in is just a shade too soft, the rhythmic beeping of machines surrounds him, and the smell of antiseptic is strong in the air. A hand drifts in front of his face, and he quickly grabs it in reflex.

"It's me, kiddo," Yoshikawa says, loosening her wrist in his grip. He dimly notices a white bandage strip between her fingers. "You're fine now."

He releases her, and she goes on fiddling with the bag of fluid hanging next his bed. Oxygen, morphine, blood. He wonders how long he's been unconscious. He turns his head to see an empty hospital room, whitewashed ceiling and whitewashed sheets. Two sets of chairs are next to his bed.

She notices his questioning stare right away.

"Everyone is fine," _She's fine_. "I told the girls to go back home and get you some clothes while I watch over you. They were worried, you know."

 _I was worried_ , is implied. Accelerator only nods, but the swell inside his chest then was hard to squash down.

"I'd give you a piece of my mind right now," Yoshikawa says instead, finishing wrapping another layer of bandage around his hand before placing it back on the bed. "But someone wants to see you."

He perks up at that, raising a brow at her. _Oh?_

"I'm going to tell them to come in now," she simply says, before turning away – not before shooting him her best parent look.

"And be nice."

He blows a piece of air out of his forehead, and shrugs in reply – really the only yes he can manage to muster up then. She only gives him a look, before taking off. A knock is heard just seconds later, and Accelerator slumps back into his bed.

"It's opened already, dumbass. Just come in."

"Must you be an asshole all the time."

Accelerator jumps, and almost falls off the bed. He snaps up to see a familiar mop of black, spiky hair.

"Bad timing?" Touma asks, and chuckles awkwardly. Accelerator just stares at him.

"You okay?"

"What the _hell_ are you doing here?"

"Still cursing. You're okay then," the guy comments dryly, completely unfazed. "You should have heard what the doctor said – surgery, a hole right above your heart and apparently you left like this long ass trail of blood when you dragged Kihara with you to ANTI Skill. Nice job though, to be honest. I'd do the same to the sick bastard."

"If you'd actually come you could have, asshat," he scowls, slumping back into bed. Kamijou what's-his-damage Touma was the last person he would expect to see visiting him in the hospital when Yoshikawa told him about this. Needless to say this trip is completely unwanted.

"What happened?" he asks instead.

"Uuuhh, saints. Like actual saints," the guy says, scratching at his head. "Can you believe that?"

By this time, nothing can really faze him anymore, so yes, he definitely does believe 'that'. He shrugs a shoulder in reply, the movement makes him wince a bit when he realizes he just used the injured side.

"Yeah, took a while but I settled that done for now," the guy continues. "You didn't even need any help anymore. By the time I got there Kihara's already mush under your fists and BiriBiri's gone for ER. You've done a pretty impressive job, as far as I was concerned."

If this were months ago, the inner him would have probably rejoiced at the guy's compliment. But as of now, Accelerator's entire body just feels heavy and deadened, and it makes him uneasy to know he's not in charge of his own faculties. He feels like he's looking at everything through a layer of cotton, and he has to fight the urge to close his eyes and just drift back into sleep.

Touma takes notice, of course, the ever observant bastard that he is. He approaches the bed slowly, and doesn't even bother with a chair as he pins him down with a stern, yet soft stare.

"I know you beat yourself up a lot. But hey, you've finally got it right this time. And last time too, with Last Order. This is probably not much coming from me for you, but I think you've been doing exceptionally well. So go easy."

Accelerator smirks slightly at that, or at least he thinks he does. Sensation is starting to trickle into the center of his stomach, and it's not pleasant. He can still remember the creature's claw plunging a hole through him like a piece of cardboard box, just narrowly avoiding his heart. The rest of the battle is twisting through his mind in brief, slippery flashes, but he remembers it very well. And the Railgun. He remembers her.

Somehow, the guy seems to have noticed that too. "You two should talk soon," he says. "She's like just across the hall from here."

"Again, bastard," Accelerator breathes, and feels himself slipping away. "None of your business."

"Sure," Touma replies from afar. "Sure."

He says something else too, something that's very close to "but" and "thanks" and "for saving", but they were all he can catch, before drifting off.

* * *

The next time she wakes up, Mikoto is greeted with the whitewashed surface of the ceiling and the quiet beeping sound of a heart detector. There's a tube connected her hand to an IV fluid pouch hung on a metal pole at the end of her bed and she focuses her hazy eyes on it, trying to morph everything into a clearer view.

"Oh, you're finally up,"

Mikoto startles, and moves her head to the side to see a familiar mop of pink twin tails.

"…Kuro…"

"Don't talk yet," the girl chides, and moves a glass of water to place near her mouth. "You're still recovering."

Mikoto gulps down the offered cup gratefully, and slowly slumps back into the bed. The metal needle from the IV pouch a cold, sober edge against her skin.

"Your mom's just dropped by and left to make a phone call to your dad. She'll be back soon. Saten and Uiharu are coming over once class is over…You really gave us one hell of a scare this time, Onee-sama."

She smiles lightly at the stern scowling in the girl's voice, only to wince back at the dry crack of her lips. She turns to look at the latter.

"…Haa…How long…?"

Kuroko frowns. "Three days. Doctor said you should be out of it for at least five, with all the injuries you've got."

She nods, looking on. Kuroko smiles down softly at her.

"Everyone's fine. We lost a research facility and scarred a few civilians with the freaky weather but all is good. You took the hardest blows that's for sure, being in the middle of it all."

 _No, not me_ , Mikoto thinks with growing dread, remembering blood red eyes and cold hands on her burned skin. She snaps up to look at the girl again, eyes big and waiting. Kuroko blinks down at her, but she gets it nonetheless.

"He's just checked out last night actually. Lots of bandages and walking with a crutch," she shrugs. "But he looked fine. If a bit grumpy, as far as I could see."

She doesn't mention when the dust cleared and Captain Yomikawa finally ordered all weapons down, she had come shooting straight at the scene; doesn't mention when she reached there the sight was enough to push the words clogged back at her throat; how she saw her dear Onee-sama lying in the arms of that pale boy in the middle of the fallen rubbles; how he just easily slid off his jacket, which was torn at the shoulder, and draped it around her, how he stayed quiet for a moment when he finished covering the unconscious girl, before slowly getting up; how he raised up two fingers in her direction as a call for her to come forward – didn't even need to turn around to notice her presence – all the while bleeding a hole through his chest.

Kuroko's managed to swallow back the sting in her eyes then, before jumping forward and hovering by the older girl's side in an instance. She's offered to transport the both of them to the ER just waiting right outside, but he only nodded it off. A dark shadow looming at the red of his eyes.

"There's something I got to take care first," he'd simply said. "Take her."

She's barely agreed before whisking away – Mikoto's charred skin and bleeding wounds a disturbing distraction. It eventually turned out later that 'something to take care of' was actually a man, whose name was as familiar as his face was when Captain found him at the back seat of her car, although it was hardly recognizable under the black and blue face the scientist was sporting then, coupled with a crooked arm and a broken remote – the latter making Shokuhou Misaki bristle as she wrenched it away from his grip. The top Esper did live up to the ruthlessness of his reputation after all, although this time Kuroko was actually glad for it. Kihara deserved every bit of that and times ten.

Mikoto nods, slowly sinking back into the plush pillow. He's fine. He's alive. He's alright. And he's saved her. She was dying and he _saved_ her. She stares up at the ceiling again, feels the soft pressure of bandage wrappings all over her body, remembers cool fingers on her shoulders as she falls and warm breath fluttering at her hair and –

 _I'm sorry, too._

Kuroko watches her Onee-sama, and feels her heart lodged up her throat. Maybe one day she will be able to muster up the courage and tell the older girl everything. It probably wouldn't even matter if it were reciprocated or not by then, she's seen something much more private and shocking and heart-wrenching, and she would live with that. As long as her dearest friend was happy. It was all that mattered most.

"I'm going to go and get your mom and the doctor. They need to know you're finally awake," she announces, smiling when the older girl does in reply, and disappears from the room.

* * *

He's learned by now that fate was an unforgiving bastard, with a sick sense of humor. Thus, alas, it is expected that in that one morning when Yoshikawa's at work (after giving him a very firm, and very long speech about stupid sacrifices and dumb, reckless boys and seriously why does she even _bother_ anymore), both the other girls are still too sleepy to get up and annoy him, Accelerator would take his sweet time to stroll down the street to the convenient store for his daily hunt for coffee, and eventually run into the Original of the SISTERS, who was walking in the opposite direction, which also conveniently serves her a better view of his distinct white hair and blood red eyes in the midst of people passing them by.

She stares. He glares. It takes a moment before everything sinks down on the both of them, before –

"H…Hey,"

Mikoto says, and it's weird, and so out-of-character even Accelerator has to arch up a pale brow. He takes a quick run-over of the girl, notices the bandage wraps around her wrists, hands, the way her chest rises and falls just a bit more profound than normal breathing can be seen, and feels his stomach curl and knot itself back on the inside. He's not looking any better for wear, with burn marks on his skin, a hole in his ribcage that's bundled up under thick bandages and an earth-shattering headache, but that's not anything new in the contents of his daily life.

He gives a nod in response, mostly because he's just woken up and his vocal cords have yet to adjust to function fully so early in the morning, and watches as the girl's shoulders loosen up, just a little bit.

She looks at him as if in consideration before darting her eyes to the store next to them. "Going to get something?"

"Coffee," he replies simply, and immediately clamps up at the rough, chalked sound of his voice.

"Me too. I mean, aah, not coffee, but I'm getting stu – something. I'm getting something too."

It's quiet when she awkwardly shuffles her slipper-clad feet, a thin blue shirt and shorts to match, he realizes, she's definitely sneaked out of the hospital by herself and probably freaking out everyone by now. _Typical._ Accelerator stares as Mikoto absent-mindedly rubs at the edges of the bandage wraps at her knuckles as her eyes dart around everywhere but him. _Anytime now_ , he thinks, and knows he's right when she snaps her gaze back to him again. Dark, brown eyes a shade of bright determination.

"Can we go for a walk after this?"

* * *

A walk, turns out to be a walk to the park, where there's a bench that they're now sitting on and a tree of which leafs are hovering above them and blocking out the afternoon sunlights, pouring their shadows on the ground. Accelerator's trying to focus his stare on that for now.

"Finally,"

Next to him, Mikoto mutters, popping open the bag of sweet bread she's bought at the convenient store, seemingly relieved to finally be able to satisfy her cravings of actual food instead of that stale, tasteless crap she was fed at the hospital he was sure. She's offered to buy him one, and Accelerator just shot her a look that made the words die halfway on her lips.

Accelerator chooses not to comment on that, and toys with the coffee can in his hand, already half-empty when he downed it with a quick gulp earlier. She's in her hospital clothes, and him a thin black sweatshirt and jeans, trusted cane leaning against the bench handle. They're obviously not going to discuss about how fucking bizarre they're looking like right now, and he's already settled into a pattern of glaring the anger away to anyone that even so much as glances at their way with unrealistic, ridiculous assumptions.

"So," she finally says, "How are you?"

He stops throwing mental daggers at a couple of giggling girls to turn to her.

"You're serious right now?"

"At least I'm _trying_ here," Mikoto huffs, exasperated. "You're not exactly the easiest person to talk to around here, you know."

"Your point?"

His grainy throat aches at the use, but it was worth the glare she shoots him.

"How's your head?"

"Fine."

"Burn marks?"

"Healing."

"…And your shoulder?"

"For fuck's sake. It's not the first time I got shot a fucking hole through my body. I'll live, brat."

"Geez, alright. Sorry for caring."

"And stop doing that too."

She blinks at him. "What?"

"Stop saying sorry all the fucking time. You'd think someone who considered death at least half of the time of their day and broke down into a catastrophic mess like you would feel less apologetic about everything by now."

"Well," she says, lips pursing in thoughts.

"– I guess old habits just die hard then."

He's not entirely sure how to respond to that, so he just snorts and turns away again.

What he first meant, is that it's not actually her that's annoying him. It's this – this _thing_ between them, his body, his mind reacts to her in the strangest of ways. He's been shot his brains out and got punched a hole through his shoulder and none of that even comes close to half of the emotions swirling low inside him when they're like this. And by now it's only the second time he's actually sat this close and talked this much to the girl. Accelerator stares down at the bandages around his hands, and remembers the same wrappings he's seen on her wrists, her neck. He flexes his fingers lightly, feels them tighten against his skin and clamp around his heart.

This is when 'old habits' would be fucking nice by now. At least then before her nightmares started, before they caught up with him he could still snap and curse and dismiss everything between them. Now even looking at the girl hurts at his eyes and cuts at his skin.

"Before you get even snappier though, I just want to let you know," she sighs, before turning to look at him.

"– thank you."

It aches to crane his neck, but he does anyways, turning to face the girl fully. Her eyes are big and wide and bright when they meet his red ones and for a while he just stares. She doesn't say it, but he hears the words nonetheless.

 _For staying. For saying sorry._

 _For saving me._

It's a thing for them now, he dimly realizes. To leave words hanging when they bare their hearts out and to admit them in silence and mutual glances. Like before. Like right now. Accelerator's never been one for subtlety, but this – just for this moment, he thinks he can let it slide. He responds with a roll of his eyes and leans his head back to stare up at the sky – high and impossibly blue under the afternoon light. And if her soft chuckle quakes through his chest and seeps into his mind, only the two of them will have to know.

* * *

The thing about grief, despair, self-loathe and all that's in between, is that they never stop. They come and go, but always return. And all that can be done is to suffer and live through it. Mikoto thinks she's definitely learned this one the hard way.

"They're still not gone. I don't think they ever will, to be honest," she says, and looks at him.

But there's a difference now, she tells herself. The nightmares, the stress, the burdens are a constant reminder. But nobody finds peace without taking risks or settling with their demons, and this is how she will do, too. After all they've been through, it's the least she can learn from, honestly.

"And you're fine with that?"

He asks, brow arching up. Mikoto nods, pursing her lips in agreement when a buzzing sound catches their attention.

Accelerator huffs, and pulls out his cell phone. He brings it to his ears, and Mikoto doesn't even need the speaker to realize who's calling.

"'Is Onee-sama there?' says MISAKA in excitement."

"What's she gotta do with any of this?" Accelerator snaps, with no actual bite in his tone, which is new, Mikoto dimly notices.

The girl's obviously said something, because after a mumble of definitely a colorful pronoun from the guy, Mikoto lingeringly accepts the phone from his hand and brings it to her ear.

"Last Order?"

"'Onee-sama! I knew you would be there with Accel-chan' MISAKA says happily."

"Uh…"

"Oi –"

"'Anyways, Worst and MISAKA have been talking. We think we should all go out sometimes' MISAKA says. 'MISAKA would _looove_ to know more about our Original SISTER, and Onee-sama must be curious about her clones too, ne?"

"…Uh, I guess? Yeah. Of course."

"'Perfect' exclaims MISAKA excitedly. 'Ne, we see your number in here. MISAKA will set up a date sometimes soon, hmm? Oka…"

She didn't get the chance to finish when the phone is plucked out of her hand. Mikoto turns to the boy sitting next to her, and frowns.

"That was unnecessary," she shakes her head. "She was about to finish anyways."

Accelerator just shrugs, pocketing his cell again. "Don't ya have a hospital to come back to or something?"

"It's only been an hour at most, I'm good for now."

"Oh?" he arches a brow, and upon looking over her shoulders and noticing a familiar figure approaching, simply stands up and reaches for his crutch. "Not for long," he says dryly.

"Huh?"

She tilts her head up at him, before flinching back when a voice booms across the park.

"ONEE-SAMA!"

Maybe it will never end, after all.

/

* * *

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